India wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has acknowledged the backing he received from Virat Kohli during his first season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
After starting his IPL career with Mumbai Indians in 2011, Chahal moved to RCB as the franchise bought him ahead of IPL 2014.
Despite playing the home games at Chinnaswamy Stadium, which is known as a batting paradise, Chahal made a name for himself.
“I played in the very first match of the 2014 season and Virat bhai helped me a lot. There were big names like Muttiah Muralitharan and Shadab Jakati, but I still played the first game. The kind of confidence that Virat bhai showed in me, I got a wicket with the first ball and got the Man of the Match as well. That gave my confidence a boost,” Chahal told during a podcast by YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia.
Shared his thoughts on Kohli’s on-field aggression, Chahal gave the example of Ricky Ponting’s Australian team.
“According to me, he is still the same. On the field, he is still the same. Off the field, he was always calm. On the field, if I know that aggression is helping me, I will do it. He doesn’t harm anyone. Look at Australia under Ricky Ponting, they dominated and kept the opposition under the pump. Now, we give it back. They know that if they sledge [India], they will get it back,” he added.
RCB are yet to win the elusive IPL title despite having some of the leading names of world cricket in their ranks. They have made three final appearances in the cash-rich tournament, with the last one coming way back in 2016.
“It’s a good question. I tried to find the answer for eight years, but the hunt for the answer continues,” Chahal replied when asked about RCB not winning a trophy since the inception of IPL in 2018.
“Our team in 2016 was the best one. We had Chris Gayle, KL [Rahul] as well. Unfortunately, we lost the final. I felt very bad because we had to win six out of seven matches. We did that. Then in the Qualifier against Delhi, we would have been out if he had lost. We won that game as well. It was a roller-coaster season. We played the final at Chinnaswamy, which we lost by eight runs,” he further said.
Chahal was released by RCB ahead of the IPL 2023 mega-auction. He went under the hammer and was roped in by Rajasthan Royals.
