Yuzvendra Chahal made a terrible start to the 2025 Indian Premier League after being acquired by Punjab Kings for an astounding 18 crore. He only took two wickets in the first five games of the season. To the point where his spot in the Kings’ starting lineup appeared to be in jeopardy, the leg-spinner appeared disorganised and out of sync.
In Mullanpur, however, with his and his team’s backs against the wall, the 34-year-old recovered in spectacular fashion, picking a four-fer to help Punjab pull off the lowest total defence in IPL history.
After the KKR performance, Chahal demonstrated his return to form on Friday, April 18, with another strong performance against his old team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2/11).
After the RCB match, Chahal spoke with colleague Arshdeep Singh and stated, “I’ve definitely taken a lot of confidence from my showing in the previous clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).”
Throughout the six overs they bowled that evening, all spinners save Chahal gave up a total of 60 runs, demonstrating Chinnaswamy’s reputation as a spinner’s graveyard. But the leggie only gave up 11 runs in 3 overs while taking 2 wickets against RCB.
His achievement was attributed to his knowledge of the surface.
I’ve performed here quite a bit. I therefore know what works and what doesn’t,” Yuzvendra Chahal remarked.
You don’t get hit for many fours on this ground as a spinner, but you do give up a lot of sixes. I therefore constantly concentrate on how I may change up the lines to surprise and outsmart the batters.
Punjab is in the lead for a top two finish after defeating RCB, making it five wins in seven games. To give themselves the best opportunity of winning, Chahal maintained that the team would have to finish in the top two spots.
“Performing well in the early half of a lengthy competition like the IPL is essential. Your chances of finishing in the top two are increased if you can score 10 points [in the first half]. Since the competition is lengthy, anything might happen at any time. Therefore, it would be really advantageous if you could somehow get in the top two.
India
