"I Will Give You The Chance"- Yuzvendra Chahal Reveals How Rohit Sharma Handed Him His IPL Debut

Yuzvendra Chahal and Rohit Sharma share a special bond not only as cricketers for the Indian team but also as friends off the field. Recently, the leg-spinner revealed how Rohit Sharma handed him an unlikely Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in IPL 2013 edition and how it rooted their friendship.

Not many now, that Yuzvendra Chahal had actually made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians (MI), who had picked him up in the IPL 2011 auction and not for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). IPL 2013 was also the same year when Ricky Ponting had given up on the captaincy of the MI team and the management decided to hand the reins over to a young Rohit Sharma.

You Are Playing The Match: Yuzvendra Chahal Reveals How Rohit Sharma Gave Him His IPL Debut For MI In 2013

Given that MI boasted of some good spinners in the early years of the IPL including some times captain Harbhajan Singh, and then Pragyan Ojha, Yuzvendra Chahal had warmed the bench for the first two years. Chahal revealed that in IPL 2013, the first game in which Rohit Sharma captained after taking over from Ricky Ponting, the Mumbaikar asked Chahal to get ready for his debut.

“I have a close bond with Rohit bhaiya because we have known each other since 2011 when I first came to Mumbai Indians. I made my IPL debut because of Rohit bhaiya. I was not getting any opportunities and Rohit bhaiya took over the captaincy from Ricky Ponting in that game only. He came to my room and said ‘Tu match khel raha hai!’ (You are playing the match!). I was [surprised] because we already had Bhajji pa (Harbhajan Singh), Ojha bhaiya (Pragyan Ojha) and we never played 3 spinners,” Chahal told India TV.

Chahal revealed that he had done well for MI in the Champions League, but Rohit Sharma’s decision to play him, along with established spinners like Harbhajan and Ojha was a surprise for him.

“I had a good Champions League and I was always among the wickets in the practice matches. But Bombay (Mumbai)’s wicket was such, and it’s still like it, that you couldn’t play 3 spinners. And Bhajju pa and Ojha bhaiya were established Test legends. So I got really excited and it was Rohit bhaiya who assured me by saying ‘Mai khilaunga tujhe’ (I will give you the chance). That’s where our bonding started,” he added.

Unfortunately, Chahal went wicketless in that match, which proved to be his only outing in the IPL 2013.

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