Chess Has Taught Me How To Be Patient: Yuzvendra Chahal

Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has developed into a consistent player with time, since making his debut back in 2016. Although, few people know that Chahal used to play chess in his childhood, and he was mighty good at it.

The 29-year-old Chahal represented India at the World Youth Chess Championship, while he has also won the national Under-12 tournament. Such was his prowess in the game that Chahal’s name is still listed on the website of World Chess Federation.

In a recent interview, the right-arm leggie opened up about how Chess groomed him into the person that he is today, while also adding how his exploits of the past continue to help him in his professional cricket career.

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Yuzvendra Chahal talks about choosing between cricket and chess:

Chahal, who has played 52 ODIs and 43 T20Is for Team India, and has 146 wickets across all formats to his name, reflected back on the time when he had to choose between chess and cricket. He added that he had no choice but to pick the latter because he was more interested in playing the gentleman’s game.

“Chess taught me patience. In cricket, you may be bowling well but you may not get wickets. Like in a Test match you may have bowled well in a day but not got wickets but you have to come back the next day so you need to be patient. I had to choose between chess and cricket. I spoke to dad who said the choice was (yours). I had more interest in cricket and opted for it,” Chahal said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

The Indian spinner was all set to turn out for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), however, owing to the Coronavirus crisis, the league has been postponed until 15th April.

Moreover, as India is currently under a 21-day lockdown, it seems highly unlikely that the IPL will commence on schedule, as the pandemic continues to spread at an alarming rate, in the subcontinent.

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