Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal walked down memory lane and recalled how Virat Kohli backed him during his first season for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Chahal joined RCB in IPL 2014 from Mumbai Indians and made a big name for himself while playing the home games at a batting-friendly surface of M Chinnswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Chahal said that the backing he got from Kohli during his initial days at RCB boosted his confidence.
“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.
Chahal, who is the leading wicket-taker in IPL history, shared his views on Kohli’s aggression on the field as he gave the example of Ricky Ponting’s Australian team while talking about the former India captain.
“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.
Chahal was retained by RCB ahead of the IPL 2023 mega auction as he went under the hammer and was picked by Rajasthan Royals. He won the purple cap on his first season with the Royals.
The leg-spinner further gave his take on RCB not winnings an IPL title since the inception of the tournament.
“It’s a good question. I tried to find the answer for eight years, but the hunt for the answer continues,” he added.
The spin maestro said that RCB had a dream team in 2016 season and they also had a bright chance to win the title but lost the final by a close margin despite playing quality tournament throughout the tournament.
“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 added.
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