Yuzvendra Chahal wants to play Test cricket but knows it’s not too easy

Not too long ago, the rise of the Kuldeep Yadav-Yuzvendra Chahal pair in India’s spin department in the limited-overs made people believe that days of seasoned campaigners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were numbered in Tests. However, it has not been the case so far as Ashwin and Jadeja have continued to dominate India’s spin attack in the longer format as well.

Of the Kul-Cha pair, while Kuldeep has still played some Tests and is one of India’s two bowlers to take five-wicket hauls in all three variants of the game, Chahal is yet to play in a Test even though he already has taken 100 international wickets (56 in ODIs and 44 in T20Is). The leg-spinner though admits that taking the places of Ashwin and Jadeja in Tests will be difficult for him and Yadav, he hasn’t given up the hope of representing India in the longer format.

Difficult to replace Ashwin-Jadeja

Speaking to Times of India, 28-year-old Chahal, a former chess player, said: “They (Ashwin and Jadeja) both have proved their mettle in last 7-8 years and we (himself and Kuldeep) have a long way to go. I am working towards it and it is a dream to play Test matches for India.”

The cricketer though has the ICC World Cup as his immediate goal and said he doesn’t want to take his spot in the team for granted.

“If you go by our performance in the last one year, we stand a good chance and obviously we are contenders for a WC spot. But it is still a long way to go and I am not thinking about it as before that we have matches scheduled against Australia, New Zealand and then we have the IPL,” Chahal, who last played for India in a T20I against the Windies at home last month, said.

As of now, the white-ball artisans in Chahal and Yadav have been India’s high hopes in the limited-overs format but replicating the same in red-ball cricket is something which they are yet to master to satisfactory levels.

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