India international cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal would have been disappointed to miss out on Indian Premier League action with the coronavirus pandemic temporarily suspending the tournament. However the spinner is keeping busy going back to old passions in the meantime.
Chahal will headline the second edition of the Desi Boys Blitz chess event that begins on Sunday, the first of two tournaments with a total prize money of Rs70,000 that will be played online on chess.com .
The leg-spinner began his sporting career with chess. He represented India at the World Youth Chess Championships and is listed on the official site of the World Chess Federation. The now 29-year-old is a former under-12 national champion on 64 squares and is till date the only person to represent India in both cricket and chess.
Sunday’s event will begin at 8pm.
Chahal would have been playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic bringing sports to a standstill globally. At least 3,374 people have been affected by the virus in the country as of Sunday morning, with 77 fatalities reported.
Globally, the number of reported cases is approaching 1.2 million and nearly 64,000 have died so far.
With the IPL put on hold, Indian cricketers have been finding different ways to deal with the situation. Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been active on Twitter and has been posting messages asking people to follow the lockdown directives and stay safe. Shreyas Iyer posted a video of himself helping his family out with household chores, while Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, among others, are also active on social media.
Registrations for the tournament were restricted to Indians and people living in India. The games will be streamed live on twitch.tv/desiboys.
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