Yuzvendra Chahal reveals secrets of his friendship with Andrew Symonds

Yuzvendra Chahal is making the most of this short break between the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 and Team India’s tour to England. He recently appeared on the talk show Breakfast with Champions and had an absolute ball talking to the host Gaurav Kapur. He talked about the early part of his career, his father’s contribution and the on-field challenges he’s faced thus far, how Virat Kohli inspired him to take fitness seriously and a bunch of other stuff.

An interesting bit of information that came out of the interview was about his friendship with someone really different in character. Wait for it… Chahal shares a great bond with former Australian all-rounder, Andrew Symonds. Yes, Symo the big brash Aussie. They were both a part of the Mumbai Indians franchise in IPL 2011 and that’s where they became great friends.

The buddies have maintained contact in the last seven years and their bond has only grown. Chahal when on tour of Australia makes it a point to go fishing with the big guy. Their friendship is so special that Symonds and his wife have given Chahal a nickname and they call him ‘Apples’; that has to be attributed to his tiny biceps.

The former Aussie cricketer’s wife Brooke also learnt how to make butter chicken for the Indian leggie. Chahal thinks his Australian friend is widely misunderstood in India which can be attributed to his involvement in the ‘monkeygate’ during India’s 2007-08 tour of Australia where things got really ugly between Symonds and India’s Harbhajan Singh.

“7 saal ho gaye. Me usko abhi bhi message me kuch gaali likh ke bhej dunga na acha hi reply aayega, jam ke. (It’s been 7 years, and even if I send him an abuse as text message he will reply something nice),” Chahal said.

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The leggie had a great last few months with the Indian team and a lot was expected from him in the IPL. He was the lead spinner for the Royal Challengers Bangalore but Chahal would know 12 wickets in the season doesn’t quite justify the bowler he is. His next major assignment is on India’s limited-overs tour to England where they will play three ODIs and as many T20Is.

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