Yuzvendra Singh Chahal (born 23 July 1990) is an Indian cricketer and former chess player who represents India in the international stage. He is a leg break bowler and one of the best in the business.He has taken a combined 203 wickets in his international career for India.
Chahal has so far played only limited-overs International cricket, i.e., One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). Along with cricket, Chahal has also represented India internationally in Chess at youth levels. On the domestic level, Chahal plays for Haryana. Chahal is an integral part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore contingent in the Indian Premier League. He joined the Rajasthan Royals in the 2022 Mega Auction and has thus far performed well across all formats with the ball in 2022.
Chahal began his IPL career with the Mumbai Indians in 2008. He was seen more on the bench, appearing in only one IPL game for the Mumbai Indians across three seasons. However, he featured in all matches in the 2011 Champions League Twenty20 for the Mumbai Indians.
In the 2014 IPL players auction, Chahal was bought by the Royal Challengers for his base price of ₹10 lakh. In 2015 and 2016, Chahal developed as a player, taking 44 wickets, making him a significant member of the RCB squad.
He surpassed Vinay Kumar in the 2018 tournament to take the most wickets for the Bangalore franchise. Chahal emerged as one of the most vital bowlers for the red team, showing consistency by chipping in with big wickets at crucial junctures.
In the 2022 mega auction, Chahal was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for 6.5 crore rupees. The decision to make the leg-spinner part of the Rajasthan Royals squad proved fruitful as he took 27 wickets at an economy rate of 7.75 in the season and won the Purple Cap!
Chahal made his One Day International debut against Zimbabwe in Harare Sports Club on 11 June, 2016. In the second match, Chahal took three wickets for just 25 runs and led his side to victory by 8 wickets. This earned him first international man of the match award.
He grew in confidence, showcasing brilliant performances in the next three years. He took 21 wickets in 14 matches in 2017 at an average of 28.57. The following year, Yuzi went on to perform even better as he picked up a total of 29 wickets. He took his first five wicket-haul in ODI against South Africa at the Centurion on 4 February 2018 and received the Man of the match award.
On January 18, 2019, Chahal took his second One-Day International 5-wicket haul by taking figures of 6/42 against Australia. These were one of the joint best figures by an Indian bowler with Ajit Agarkar.
This was just the beginning of another wonderful year for Chahal as he completed the year with a total of 29 wickets. Chahal was also part of India's 2019 World Cup squad in England. He started the tournament with figures 4/51 against South Africa in Southampton and picked 12 wickets in eight matches at an average of 36.83.
The next two years in 2020 and 2021 saw a dip in the opportunities for Chahal as he managed six ODI games in both calendar years. Although 2020 hardly had much cricketing action due to the lockdown, he played only 2 games in 2021 and picked up 5 wickets. With the rise of new bowlers from the IPL, Chahal saw some tough competition stacked against him. But it was just a matter of time before the leggie showed that form is temporary and class is permanent.
Chahal accounted for 21 wickets in 14 matches in 2022 at an average of 27.10, including three four-wicket hauls. However, Chahal played just a couple of games out of India's nine ODI matches in the home series scheduled between January- March 2023.
He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut against Zimbabwe on 18 June 2016. On 1 February 2017, he became the first bowler for India to take a five-wicket haul in T20Is, ending with figures of 6/25 against England cricket team.
Chahal’s 6-wicket haul is ranked the 10th-best figure ever in T20Is. He took the most wickets (23) in T20Is in 2017 all over the world. Fast forward to 2019, Chahal became the third Indian bowler to capture 50 T20 wickets. In December 2020.
Replacing Jadeja who suffered a concussion, Chahal played against Australia in a T20I and became the first-ever cricketer to win the player of the match award while coming in as a concussion substitute.
With a rough 2021, Chahal was excluded from the T20 World Cup squad which shocked a lot of people, as Chahal was an experienced and vital bowler for India in the T20Is. In the 69 matches that he has played, Chahal has taken 85 T20 wickets at an economy rate of 8.25.
Chahal was named in the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup squad for India but did not feature in a single game for the Rohit Sharma-led side as they crashed out of the semi-final against England. He played in a couple of T20I matches in New Zealand and picked two wickets in the second T20I but went wicketless in the third.
During the third T20I against New Zealand in January 2023, Chahal dismissed Finn Allen to become the highest wicket-taker of India in T20 Internationals. With 91 wickets in 74 matches, Chahal surpassed Bhuvneshwar Kumar's tally of 90 T20I dismissals.
Cricket is not Chahal's only talent. Chahal has also represented India in chess at the World Youth Chess Championship. However struggling to find a sponsor, Chahal was left with no other option but to give up the game. Chahal is listed on the World Chess Federation's official site.
Also see - Kuldeep Yadav Biography
Yuzvendra Chahal was born to Mr. K. K. Chahal and Mrs. Sunita Devi, in a village in Haryana. His family now lives in Patiala Chowk, Jind. His father works as an advocate and his mother is a housewife. Chahal has two elder sisters, both of whom live in Australia. Yuzvendra Chahal tied the knot with Dhanashree Verma on December 22, 2020. Chahal's wife is an Indian dancer, choreographer and dentist by profession, the couple announced their engagement via social media on August 8 earlier this year.
