Yuzvendra Chahal, a veteran spinner for the Indian cricket team, said he witnessed nearly every member of the national team, including Virat Kohli, cry following the team’s defeat to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semifinal. India failed to chase a 240-run mark and lost the rain-affected match by 18 runs on the reserve day. Chahal recently shared unknown tales from the Indian cricket team’s dressing room and discussed the differences between Virat and Rohit Sharma in terms of captaincy.
“I love how Rohit bhaiya carries himself on the ground. He’s a very good captain. With Virat bhaiya, it’s the energy he brings, the same energy every day. It will only go up and never down. Same energy. Every day,” Chahal said on the Figuring Out With Raj Shamani podcast.
He mentioned the 2019 incident when asked if he had ever witnessed Virat Kohli cry.
“2019 World Cup, I saw him crying in the bathroom,” Chahal said. “And then I was the last batter, when I was crossing him, he had tears in his eyes. In 2019, I saw everyone crying in the bathroom.”
Chahal also expressed regret on his own performance in the game, as he only took one wicket against New Zealand and conceded 63 runs in 10 overs.
“It was Mahi bhai’s last match. I could have done better. I still regret that. I could have pushed myself a bit more, bowled a bit better, and leaked 10-15 fewer runs. But sometimes you are in that flow, it happens so quickly that you don’t get time to think. I thought if I was calmer I could have done even better. I gave my best but it was the semi-final, a bigger stage and you have to give your 10-15% extra,” he said.
In the podcast, Chahal also discussed his relationship with actor-choreographer Dhanashree Verma, his ex-wife. In March of this year, the Mumbai family court awarded Chahal and Dhanashree a divorce, terminating their five-year marriage. The couple was married in December 2020, but in June 2022, they filed for divorce. The couple petitioned the family court for a divorce by mutual consent in February of this year.
Chahal has now disclosed that it has been a while since he last texted or spoke with Dhanashree. He went on to say that the couple had only formal conversations following the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“I had not seen her for a very long time, and then I saw her on a video call, where the lawyers spoke to us. That’s it, no message or anything after that. Before the divorce, we weren’t on talking terms for six to seven months. We would talk only if there was something very important; otherwise, nothing. It was like that for a while, but after the T20 World Cup, it started properly,” said Chahal.
