'I was camera shy before joining RCB' - Yuzvendra Chahal reveals how his show Chahal TV started

Every cricket fan knows that Yuzvendra Chahal has a very fun personality. Every time you give him an opportunity off the field, he will surely entertain you. He even has a show named ‘Chahal TV’ in which he conducts interviews of players after the match. The interviews are generally fun to watch and gives a special insight into the game from the player’s perspective.

In a recent interview, the Haryana leg-spinner revealed how it all started. Chahal explained it was a random interview which he was told to take of Manish Pandey after one of the matches. He recalled how it was the media manager of Team India who gave the idea of such a concept. This is when the whole ‘Chahal TV’ started.

The show has since then grown a fan base as many Indian cricket fans have tuned in to watch the episodes of Chahal TV. In the show, Yuzi has interviewed many players like Smriti Mandhana, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

My personality changed completely after 2015: Yuzvendra Chahal

“This concept started during the last T20 in Chennai against West Indies, Manish Pandey won the game for us off the last ball…our media manager asked me if I could do this interview and in jest, it came out that ‘Chahal TV pe aapka swagat hai…’; we got a very positive response on Chahal TV, so we made it a regular feature after every match – some serious questions balanced out with funny or joking questions…in a good way you find out about the atmosphere of the team,” Chahal said during an interview with ESPNCricinfo.

During the interaction, the 29-year-old also revealed that he was previously very camera shy. It was only after he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 that he became confident. From 2011 to 2013, he was with the Mumbai Indians but played only one IPL match.

“Till about 2014 I was quite a camera shy. When I came to RCB and won the man-of-the-match award, my personality changed completely after 2015. You get a lot of invites from people during IPL and you have to chat with a lot of people, talk on the stage.

I realised that I have a bond with people…I am only serious when I am bowling on the ground when the match doesn’t go well, I think about it for half an hour. I am not the kind of person who will think about it for 3-4 hours otherwise I’ll put too much pressure on myself,” added Chahal.