Yuzvendra Chahal Profile, Career & Stats

A leg-spinner who does not turn the ball a lot and relies more on a persistent line and length to tie the batter down, Yuzvendra Chahal has represented India in both ODIs and T20Is and is the highest wicket-taker in the Indian Premier League.

A spinner from Haryana, Chahal first attracted attention when he took 34 wickets in the national U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy in 2009, finishing the tournament as its leading wicket-taker.

Yuzvendra Chahal IPL Career

Yuzvendra Chahal joined the Mumbai Indians in 2011, but he played only a solitary game for them in 2013. Chahal went into the auction ahead of IPL 2014 and was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore. 

The following two seasons saw him grow as a player, picking up 35 wickets and becoming one of RCB's vital cogs. Chahal was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2016 IPL season, representing Bangalore. He finished with a handsome haul of 21 wickets as RCB reached the final of the competition.

Despite having the position of IPL’s most successful bowler, RCB released him ahead of the 2022 edition. This setback did not hurt his performance one bit as he came back even stronger, bagging the Purple Cap while playing for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022. He took 27 wickets that year and followed it up with another successful season, finishing with 21 wickets.

Chahal became the first bowler to complete 200 IPL wickets in the 2024 season and, at present, is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament's history. Chahal's exceptional form in domestic cricket significantly bolstered his value in the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. He was acquired by the Punjab Kings for a record-breaking sum of INR 18 crore, making him the most expensive spinner in IPL history.

He delivered key performances, including a match-winning 4 for 28 in a historic low-total defence. While Punjab’s attack leans heavily on pace, Chahal’s experience and wicket-taking ability remain vital to their balance.

Yuzvendra Chahal International Career

The former Chess player Yuzvendra Chahal is the second player in T20I history to take a six-wicket haul. With his knack for picking wickets at regular intervals, Chahal made his ODI debut for India, touring Zimbabwe on June 11, 2016 and was later given an opportunity against England in the T20Is, which he grabbed to the fullest.

In the third T20 against England in February 2017, he became the first Indian bowler to claim a five-wicket haul in T20Is.

However, a slight dip in form saw Chahal and his spin duo, Kuldeep Yadav, lose their place in the national side in 2019. While the break-up of Chahal and Kuldeep’s partnership seemed to affect the latter more initially, the former too began to deviate from the track, leading to a shocking exclusion from India’s squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Although Chahal regained his place in the 2022 edition of the tournament, it did not mean much as he returned home from Australia without getting a spot in the playing XI. As Kuldeep found back his mojo and Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel too made their cases stronger as spin-bowling all-rounders, Chahal got pushed back in Team India’s scheme of things for the ODI World Cup.

Thanks to his resurgence in the last couple of years as a trusted wicket-taker, the leg-spinner earned a call-up for the T20 World Cup 2024 but mostly stayed out of the team.

(As of April 2026)