'Obviously you want to wear the whites' - Yuzvendra Chahal expresses his desire to play Test cricket

Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is optimistic about making it to the Indian Test team sooner than later. Over the years, Chahal has seen a lot of young players grab their opportunities in the red-ball format, but still, there is not an opening for the 30-year-old who still harbors hope of donning the whites.

The Haryana-born spinner has a decent first-class record, picking up 84 wickets in 31 games, yet the selectors continue to ignore him whenever India’s frontline spinners such as Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are injured. The likes of Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem and Axar Patel have gone on to play the red-ball format ahead of him during the Australia series Down Under and at home against England in the year 2021.

Chahal spoke to Sports Tak about his chances of getting into the Test side after doing well in first-class cricket. “Obviously, you want to wear the whites. If someone calls you a Test player, there is no bigger compliment. In the last 3-4 years, I have picked 50 wickets in the ten first-class matches, out of which two are India A games,” Chahal revealed.

Chahal had hoped to get India call-up during the home series against England

Ashwin and Jadeja have been phenomenal for India especially at home during the last five to six years. That Indian selectors’ liking for spin all-rounders is a known fact considering how useful contributions from the lower-order batters are in Tests. Chahal’s inability to bat might well be one of the factors of him not being included as yet. Sundar and Patel were handed their debuts and did exceptionally well for India with both bat and ball.

“You see Axar came in and did well. Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep are already there, so you feel that 3-4 players are already in the reckoning and it will be difficult for you to get a chance. Especially when they are performing so well. Ashwin bhaiyya completed 400 Test wickets and Jaddu Pa has over 250 wickets. Looking at them you feel that you have to improve more to get a chance,” Chahal admitted.

The leg-spinner was not expecting a call-up for the ICC World Test Championship final but was hoping to be included in the squad for the home series against England.

“No, this time I wasn’t expecting a call-up. But yes, when England toured India and some of our spinners were injured, I felt somewhere that my name my prop up,” Chahal mentioned.