5 cutest Yuzvendra Chahal-Kuldeep Yadav moments

Apart from being key members of Team India’s spin department, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are also known as great mates on and off the cricket field. For a couple of years between 2017 and 2019, they dominated batters and came to be known as ‘KulCha’ - a nickname that has stuck with them.

Post the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, the fortunes of both spinners dipped. They were briefly dropped from the national team, but have worked their way back and have made successful comebacks. However, owing to the team combination, ‘KulCha’ have not played a lot together lately - it has either been one or the other.

Despite often replacing each other in the playing XI, the camaraderie between Chahal and Kuldeep has remained intact. On Sunday, January 22, the naughty leg-spinner played another prank on the left-arm wrist-spinner, using a gender-swapping filter to transform Kuldeep into a woman. He captioned the funny picture as "Traveling Partner".

In the wake of Chahal’s latest mischievous act, we revisit five of the cutest moments between him and Kuldeep.

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#1 Kuldeep-Chahal get into an ‘argument’ amid ugly DC-RR no-ball controversy

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal ‘interact’ admits the no-ball controversy.

A massive controversy erupted in the last over of the IPL 2022 match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The DC camp, including skipper Rishabh Pant, was enraged at a high full-toss by Obed McCoy not being adjudged as a no-ball by the on-field umpires.

While Rovman Powell was the batter at the striker’s end, Kuldeep was at the bowler’s end. As the game was briefly halted due to the controversy, with Pant even threatening to call his players in, RR leggie Chahal and Kuldeep also decided to engage in an ‘argument’.

Even as Kuldeep looked towards the dugout to try and take instructions, Chahal nudged him and directed him to go back to the non-striker’s end. All in good fun!

Speaking about the high-scoring game, Rajasthan won the match by 15 runs on the back of Jos Buttler’s scintillating hundred. Chasing 223, Delhi finished on 207/8.

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#2 Kuldeep-Chahal’s date banter

India’s spin twins during their dominant phase in international cricket. Pic: Getty Images

Not only on the field, but the spin twins are after each other off it as well. The 2021 edition of the IPL was played in two halves. After the first part of the tournament ended, fans and players were eager for the T20 league to restart.

Counting the days down, Chahal shared a cheeky post on Instagram and wrote:

“Bhaiya yeah 20th September kab aayega? (When will September 20 come?)”

In the mood for some harmless fun, Kuldeep wittily replied:

“19 ke baad. (After September 19.)”

Not one to give in easily, the leggie retorted:

“21st se pehle nahi? (Not before 21st?)”

With this interaction, 'KulCha' once again proved that they can make even silly seem funny.

A screenshot of KulCha’s interaction.

The first half of IPL 2021 was held in India from April 9 but was suspended midway through May due to rising COVID-19 cases. The tournament resumed in the UAE on September 19 and was completed on October 15.

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#3 Bond of brothers

Yuzvendra Chahal (left) and Kuldeep Yadav.

While the two spinners do not play together as often for India as they did during their peak phase, both enjoy each other’s success. In October 2022, Kuldeep won the Player of the Match in the third ODI against South Africa in Delhi. The left-arm wrist-spinner bamboozled the Proteas batters to end with excellent figures of 4/18.

Thanks to the spinner’s efforts, India bowled out the visitors for a mere 99 runs and chased down the target with ease. The triumph saw the Men in Blue clinch the three-match series by a 2-1 margin.

Reflecting on the win, Kuldeep took to Twitter and wrote:

“A special week with the boys as we overcame the challenges and delivered our best cricket under pressure. A big thanks to the support staff and congratulations everyone on the series win.”

Chahal commented on the post and wrote:

Well bowled brother 🇮🇳🧿❤️

Kuldeep also replied and commented:

“My brother ♥️.”

The exchange was yet another illustration of the heartwarming camaraderie between the two spinners.

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#4 When Chahal claimed he is Kuldeep’s bowling coach

The Indian spinners have a fun chat. Pic: BCCI

During an interaction on Chahal TV earlier this month, the leg-spinner joked that he is Kuldeep’s bowling coach. The latter replaced the leggie for the second ODI of the series against Sri Lanka after Chahal failed to recover in time from an injury.

The wrist-spinner grabbed his chance and walked away with the Player of the Match award for his figures of 3/51 as India beat Sri Lanka by four wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In a post-match interaction, Kuldeep thanked Chahal for his guidance and said:

“I would like to thank you for your suggestions. You played the entire T20I series and the previous one-dayer as well. I was coming into white ball cricket straight from a Test match. You gave inputs. Since you were playing so much with the boys, you had an idea of how to bowl, so thank you for it.”

Responding to his teammate’s praise, the humorous Chahal quipped:

“Surya ke to hum batting coach hain, ab Kuldeep Yadav ke bhi bowling coach ban gaye. Yeh note kar lijiye. (I am already Surya's batting coach; now I am Kuldeep Yadav's bowling coach too. Note this.)”

During the match, Kuldeep had another reason to celebrate as he had completed 200 wickets in international cricket.

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#5 When KulCha engaged in a game of dumb charades

KulCha try their hand at dumb charades

Following a disappointing 2019 World Cup campaign, Kuldeep and Chahal swiftly lost favor with the selectors and the team management. After being in and out of the side for the next two years, they played together during the tour of Sri Lanka in 2021, when the main squad was involved in a Test series in England.

'KulCha' celebrated their reunion by engaging in a fun game of dumb charades in which Kuldeep was helping Chahal identify players by giving him clues. As usual, the duo enjoyed each other’s company and entertained fans as well.

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