Picture Credit: Twitter
Despite being a consistent performer for the franchise, Yuzvendra Chahal was released by the Royal Challengers Bangalore following the 2021 IPL season. In a podcast with YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadiya, the leg-spinner recounted how disappointed he was with this decision, as well as the mistreatment he faced from the RCB staff.
Chahal said he was saddened by his departure from RCB in 2021, but was hurt even more by the complete lack of communication from the team he had spent eight years with. He claimed that RCB did not tell him anything before his departure, not even made a phone call to explain the situation to the veteran player.
There were concerns at the time among the RCB fanbase that Chahal would demand a large amount of money from the team. However, in the podcast Chahal denied all this and said: “I did not ask for anything. I know how much I deserve.” The bowler also highlighted false promises from RCB. He claimed that the Bangalore team assured him they would try to sign him again during the auction, but in the end the team did not submit a single bid for the player.
There was a bidding war for Chahal between the Mumbai Indians, the Rajasthan Royals and the Delhi Capitals before his move to the Royals was confirmed for a bid of INR 6.5 Crore.
Whatever happens, happens for good: Chahal on his move to Rajasthan Royals
Despite admitting he is still attached to the Royal Challengers, and that Chinnaswamy Stadium is still his favourite place to play cricket, he admitted that the move to the Royals has been a blessing in disguise for his career.
“Whatever happens, happens for good. A good thing that happened with me after I joined Rajasthan Royals is I became a death bowler. I started to bowl at the end. At RCB I used to bowl the 16th or the 17th over at max,” he said. “At RR, I became a death bowler and my cricketing growth increased by 5 to 10 percent. That is when I realised, whatever happens, happens for good. People go to new teams after sometimes playing for 10 years for a particular side. That is fine. As a professional cricketer, you have to deal with such things,” Chahal further added.
Notably, Chahal is the first bowler to take 300 wickets in the T20s as well as the first Indian bowler to take a 6-wicket haul. He is widely considered among the greatest T20 bowlers in the sport today.
