It was a dream moment for Yuzvendra Chahal when he was named in Indian ODI squad for Zimbabwe tour. After first international call-up Yuzvendra told that he looked up to Virat Kohli for inspiration. He bowled well in first ODI against Zimbabwe. Now he revealed that playing under MS Dhoni makes him feel like dealing with a friend.
“Before I met him (Dhoni), there was a fear about how he will be. But he’s really simple. You can ask him anything. Even on the ground I never felt like he was a captain. I felt like dealing with a friend,” Yuzvendra said.
Dhoni takes much pressure. But he does not look like. He looks like a very simple person. Yuzvendra told his early days when he played chess. He utilises his early experience in cricket.
“It’s been 13 years since I quit chess. But yes I think this intuition has developed as a result of those experiences. I bowl at the stumps. I get an intuition that the batsman’s going to do something. If you bowl four-five dot-balls, then pressure is on him,” he told.
“At that point, you have time to decide whether to bowl a googly or outside off-stump. My mind is on that, and always trying to guess what the batsman’s trying to do and it helps me a lot. When you play chess, patience is vital. Many times you don’t get wickets and you concede runs, you need to remain patient. So it’s about being calm, and I’m mentally strong and it makes a big difference,” Yuzvendra added.