Young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal says his national call-up wasn’t a surprise. He says he was always aware of his exploits in the shorter formats and that dream to wear the Indian jersey was just around the corner owing to some brilliant performances with the ball in the IPL. That dream is here; Chahal is in Zimbabwe and in all probability will wear his favourite jersey soon in the ODI & T20I series. For Chahal, the day when he was named in the India squad is still fresh as if it just happened yesterday. “When I was named, I was very happy and it was like a dream come true moment for me. I still remember I texted Virat Kohli to share the moment. He congratulated me and all he asked me to do was to stay focussed whenever I would get a chance to wear Indian colours,” he told BCCI.TV. “As a player when you go through the rigours of the sport you are playing, representing your country is always your primary goal. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time now. It was my dream to wear the Indian jersey and I am excited to play my first match. I am excited to do well in Zimbabwe.” Chahal is one of IPL’s success stories. He has had a prolific run with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chahal credits his stint with the team for his growth as a bowler. “IPL is an outstanding platform for the youngsters to prove themselves against the best in the business. My three years with RCB have been fruitful,” he begins. “I have learnt a lot, especially from RCB coach Daniel Vettori. Bharat Arun sir and Allan Donald too have fed me with a lot of information that will prove handy for me. Then there are the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli who keep telling you about things that I do well in the nets and could work on. There is a lot of information shared on and off the field that prove handy for a young bowler like me.” But what kind of information is Chahal talking about? “When I bowl in the nets to a Virat or an AB or Gayle, I bowl to them with a plan,” he explains. “They keep telling me about small things like varying pace, bowl a specific line that will make it tough for the batsmen or at times ask me to bowl a bit fuller as well. Such inputs are really helpful. When someone like AB de Villiers finds it difficult to play your deliveries and walks up to you and says, ‘Well bowled’ it gives a different kind of confidence. “I used to get positive vibes from my conversations with Virat Kohli. Bowling at the M Chinnaswamy stadium is not easy because it is known for being a run-fest. Virat would never pressurize me as a captain or ask me why I was being hit for sixes. He would always tell me that getting hit for sixes is never a problem if you had bowled a good ball. Such things make you realise that the captain has immense faith in you.” From the Mumbai Indians bench to a regular in the red jersey with RCB, Chahal believes his bowling has grown leaps and bounds. “When I wouldn’t play in the IPL, I would play in the domestic T20 tournaments. At that time I would bowl a lot flatter and faster and my run-up too was fast. In 2011 when I was picked by the Mumbai Indians, the coaches there worked on my action. When I came to RCB, Vettori started observing even finer aspects of my bowling. He would let me know when my body would slide a bit or my strides during my run-up were bigger, or my follow through was faster. Together we worked on all these aspects. I started running a lot slower, reduced my delivery strides and because of such changes I am bowling much better. When you run fast during your run-up you go with a flow. When you are slow, you use a lot of your body with minimal bowling strides. When Vettori observed my run-up he told me that I was running faster during my run-up and I could go a lot slower. During matches you don’t understand if you are running in the same follow through but Vettori would keep observing me during matches. We would then work on it in the nets.” Chahal is not a big turner of the cricket ball. He makes full use of it though when he has the conditions at his disposal. For him, understanding the nature of pitches and bowling according to them was key. “I vary a lot of pace in my bowling according to the pitch. If the pitch is slow then I try and fasten up my pace a bit so that the ball can zip through the wicket. Pace variations become a lot more important when you are bowling on flat wickets or else the batsman feels that the bowler will keep bowling at the same pace. I have a googly, a slider and the flipper but all of them have to be used wisely so that I can keep the batsman guessing as to what will be thrown at him next.” He hasn’t had much time to do his homework ahead of the Zimbabwe tour especially with the tour starting in such short notice after the IPL final. But, Chahal has tried his best to gather information for being successful in the African nation. “I have spoken to Mohit Sharma about bowling in Zimbabwe and he told me that there is a bit on offer for the spinners. From what I could gather from his inputs is that if I can use my variations and vary my pace, I can be successful. Also, Narendra Hirwani sir is always there to tell you a few things. Maninder Singh sir also gave me a few tips on my run-up and how I could use it to good effect.” Chahal has a bubbly confidence and excitement flowing ahead of his first international tour. More so, he is eager to bowl under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Whether he gets a game or not, Chahal is sure this quick tour to Zimbabwe will be a great learning curve in his career which is slowly but steadily moving upwards. “I am excited to play under MS Dhoni. He reads the game really well and I have observed that he notices a lot about your bowling from behind the wickets. I haven’t played much under his captaincy but I have seen him walking to his bowlers and advising them about what lines and lengths to bowl. I am sure I am going to learn a lot from this Zimbabwe tour and there will be an improvement in my bowling.”