"Bad form was playing on my mind a bit, especially after the IPL" - Yuzvendra Chahal

Team India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has thanked his well-wishers for their constant support after enduring a difficult few months that saw him lose his place in the national team.

Chahal expressed his emotions during a recent interaction with former cricketer Aakash Chopra on the latter's YouTube channel.

"I see people's messages, feels good to be loved. It's your closest ones that pick you up when you are down," said Yuzvendra Chahal.

Chahal suffered a rough start to 2021. A sharp dip in form in international cricket in the last 18 months and an underwhelming performance in the first leg of IPL 2021 eventually led to the wrist-spinner being dropped from the Indian team for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

⛅️——> 🌞 🧿 https://t.co/Ag2DQnEnzr

— Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) September 9, 2021

Yuzvendra Chahal will be looking to regain his golden touch in the 2nd leg of IPL 2021, which will start in the UAE from September 19.

'It's just a bad phase' - Yuzvendra Chahal recalls words of motivation from his wife Dhanashree

The 2021 cricket season has been a forgettable for Yuzvendra Chahal thus far. He was dropped from Team India's playing XI after poor performances in the first three T20Is against England earlier this year.

His poor form continued in the IPL as he managed just 4 wickets in 7 games at an average of 47.80 and a costly economy rate of 8.26.

The horror run was playing on Chahal’s mind after the IPL and it was at this point that he sought advice from his wife Dhanashree Verma, who proved to be a source of motivation.

"Bad form was playing on my mind a bit, especially after the IPL. I sat down with my wife Dhanashree who helped me. She told me that every day you won't take wickets, it's just a bad phase,’’ revealed Yuzvendra Chahal.

The leg-spinner said he knew he was bowling well but admitted that the lack of wickets was affecting him.

"I knew that I was bowling well but sometimes in T20 cricket, it's very hard to take wickets if a batsman doesn't attack. It affects you when you don't have wickets to show in the column,’’ he revealed.

The 29-year-old said he was looking forward to the Sri Lankan series back in July. He did well in the ODI series by claiming 5 wickets in 2 matches but the leg-spinner wasn’t able to emulate his exploits in the T20I series thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.

''But I was backing myself and was waiting for the Sri Lanka series,’’ he added.

Yuzvendra Chahal was identified as one of the closest contacts to Krunal Pandya, who returned positive for COVID-19. The spinner, along with other close contacts, were immediately isolated and Chahal eventually tested positive for the virus a few days later.

Individual commitments to a group effort. That’s the definition of this Team. This is Team India. Absolute Fearless. 🇮🇳💪 pic.twitter.com/9iRxyAvAfF

— Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) September 6, 2021