"I'M THE CAPTAIN NOW, AND YOU ARE PLAYING": ROHIT SHARMA'S FAITH IN YUZVENDRA CHAHAL

Yuzvendra Chahal who now represents Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) started his career in 2011 with Mumbai Indians (MI). The leg-spinner has now revealed how Rohit Sharma's vote of confidence helped him play during his early days at MI.

"When I joined MI, there were three spinners including me. During the Champions League T-20 that year, only 13 players from our squad were available. Rest were injured. So I had a feeling that I would get to play and so I did," Chahal told ESPNcricinfo.

"There was a bit of pressure at the start at but I was fine once I bowled my first over. That's when I realized that T20 format is more of a mind game. If you are a professional cricketer, pressure won't bother you. Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha were very helpful. I learnt a lot by bowling with them in the nets and staying around the team.

"After Rohit became the captain of MI he came and told me that I am playing the coming game. I told him that there were already two senior spinners in the team. To which he said, ‘I'm the captain now, and you are playing.' He had faith in me because of my performance in the Champions League T20, and he was keen to play me at any opportunity."

Chahal was bought by RCB in the 2014 auction. Despite nursing an injury, he picked 23 wickets in the 2015 season of the tournament and his career went uphill.

"I performed well in the practice matches and got support from Daniel Vettori (coach) and Virat Kohli (captain). I played my first match against Delhi and won the Man-of-the-Match title. That boosted my confidence and helped me with my performance throughout the seasonm" he said.

"I ended the season (2015) as the third-highest wicket-taker."

Chahal said his home ground at RCB, M Chinnaswamy stadium, is hard to bowl in because of its small dimensions. However, he backs his strengths to overcome the challenges.