Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal made an open appeal to the selectors after his successful performance against Northamptonshire in County Championship cricket. Yuzvendra Chahal has said that the Indian team wants to prove its worth in English conditions with an eye on the Test tour of England in 2025.
During the successful T20 World Cup 2024 in India in June, Chahal did not get a chance in any match. The right-arm leg-spinner was not included in the white-ball tours of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. He decided to play for Northamptonshire in the County Championship and proved himself.
The 34-year-old started his County career for Northamptonshire by scoring five goals in a nine-wicket win over Kent. He had a few low performances but bounced back with 18 wickets in his last two matches. He has shown the ability to adapt and perform in English conditions.
An opportunity to showcase my skills – Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal says he wants to show how good he is in English conditions ahead of India’s tour of England in 2025. He said playing County Cricket gave him the opportunity to showcase his skills against high-quality opposition.
“City cricket is tough cricket. It gave me an opportunity to showcase my skills against a very good standard of cricket. With India touring England next year, I wanted to show how good I am,” Chahal told TOI.
“First of all I am very grateful to Brindon sir who gave me the opportunity to play County cricket and then Rajasthan Royal coaches introduced me to Krish Patel, a highly educated 18-year-old cricketer. I want to see him play at international level in the future and if I can help, I am always there.”
India are all set to visit England for a five-match Test series for the next round of the World Test Championship (WTC). Chahal is yet to make his Test debut for India. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel have been the first choice spin bowlers for India in Test cricket.
Yuzvendra Chahal played for Kent in the last County Championship Season
Many Indian players see county cricket as an opportunity to improve their skills. Recently, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar and Prithvi Shaw have participated in county matches. Brindon Bagirathan is the main link connecting Indian players with English cricket opportunities.
Chahal made several appearances for Kent in the last County Championship season. The veteran spinner took 18 wickets in eight matches with an impressive economy rate of 3.70 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Chahal has featured sporadically for Haryana in the Ranji Trophy.
The Haryana cricketer played 39 first-class matches in his career. He scored 115 at an average of 32.29 with best bowling figures of 6/44.
