Unfazed about not getting a regular spot in playing XI, Yuzvendra Chahal taking it 'one step at a time'

Yuzvendra Chahal has been a mainstay in Team India’s spin department in recent years. Yet, he’s been at odds to secure a regular spot on the playing XI in limited-overs cricket of late. This uncertainty, however, as the Asia Cup and World Cup near is not getting to Chahal.

“At present, I need to perform well in the four matches. I think about one step at a time. After this series, we’ll have a camp and then the team will be announced. I am not thinking about Asia Cup or World Cup now,” said Chahal.

In the ongoing West Indies tour, Chahal bounced back with two important dismissals after being benched for the entire three-match ODI series.

The spinner believes that it is the combination that looks promising in the given conditions which determines who plays and who stays on the bench.

“At (No.) 7 we generally play Ravindra Jadeja or Axar Patel. Three spinners can only play if the wickets are spin friendly. Kuldeep is bowling really well; he is in a great rhythm and that’s why the team is backing him. I keep working in (the) nets so that whenever I get the chance I will grab it,” he added.

The former Chess player opined that since cricket is a team sport, the individual is not the focus.

“We are professional cricketers. I was playing after two months, last I played was in the IPL. It is all about preparation. This is not an individual sport; you are playing here for your team. There are times when players have to sit out for two series, so it doesn’t mean that they are not part of the team,” he said.

“I am very happy that I am getting to wear the blue jersey every day. I am not sitting at home. I am travelling with the team. I am part of the team.

“I have played chess; it is an individual game, but cricket is a team sport. Out of fifteen people in the squad, only eleven can play. In the past few series, when I was playing Kuldeep was not getting the chances,” he added.

Meanwhile, India lost the first T20I by four runs in a close contest. Chahal is confident that India will come back stronger in the five-match match series in the next game.

“We still got four matches to play. I think we must also give credit to West Indies because they played better cricket. We always think that oh you are playing against West Indies, you are going to win 5-0. It’s not true. It is all about who perform better on the given day,” he said.