NEW DELHI: Punjab Kings (PBKS) spinner Yuzvendra Chahal started IPL 2025 on an unimpressive note, picking just two wickets in the first five matches.
While Chahal’s average speed was higher than usual, the batters seemed to face no problems in negotiating his variations, as evident from the economy rate of 11.13.
The leg-spinner was soon highlighted as the weak link by experts, with many raising questions regarding the relevance of his skills.
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Chahal was picked for a mammoth sum of Rs 18 crore in the IPL 2025 auction, further raising the pressure and expectations.
“Chahal started off the season being a bit more expensive in comparison to earlier years. That’s perhaps because he was bowling at a quicker pace. Chahal was also probably easing back into T20 cricket. Gradually, he’s started slowing down his pace,” said former Indian cricketer WV Raman during an exclusive interaction with TimesofIndia.com.
However, the 34-year-old cricketer has pulled off a stunning comeback, showcasing his calibre as a bowler, especially in the 19th over of CSK‘s innings during the match against PBKS.
Chahal started off the over with a wide, missing his line and length while bowling to MS Dhoni.
The CSK captain smashed the second ball for a mighty six, drawing wild celebrations from the CSK camp.
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With five fielders inside the ring, things could have ended up really badly for Chahal.
“It’s a case of a bowler finding the right pace and rhythm. Chahal has shown that he has resilience. He is very confident. If you look at his bowling in the 19th over, Chahal was trying to keep the batters guessing. He realised that Dhoni had to go after the bowlers and did well in out-guessing him. The delivery smashed for a six was just way outside off-stump, giving Dhoni a chance to swing his bat through. The next one was much closer to his body, cramping him, which was very crafty. Chahal made last-minute adjustments which you would expect from somebody with as much experience as Chahal,” he added.
However, the spinner shrewdly bowled his next delivery fuller and outside off, drawing a mishit from Dhoni. There was a stunned silence from the Chepauk crowd as the veteran walked back.
While the next delivery drew a couple of runs, Chahal’s real magic was on display from the fourth delivery as he recorded IPL 2025’s first hat-trick.
The spinner perfectly capitalised on the aggressive intent of the batters, dismissing Deepak Hooda, Anshul Kamboj and Noor Ahmad astutely.
Chahal’s success was largely due to his focus on going back to the basics and bowling at his regular pace with a focus on deceptiveness.
Former Team India fielding coach R Sridhar termed Chahal’s performance as something similar to Jasprit Bumrah delivering a quality performance.
“Chahal doing well is no surprise. He is very experienced and made a crucial difference against CSK, stopping them at 190 when the total could have very easily been close to 220. Chahal changed his plans based on the situation, bowling a googly and a flipper to great effect,” he stated.
The PBKS leg-spinner highlighted his focus on playing with the minds of the batters during an interaction following the win against CSK. “I was thinking about taking wickets. Focus was on ensuring the batters don’t get settled, considering there were five fielders inside the circle,” said Chahal.
The leg-spinner has now picked 13 wickets in 10 matches following the brilliant spell against CSK (4/32) as well as his sensational 4/28 while facing KKR, marking a stunning turnaround from his earlier tally of two wickets in five matches.
Chahal’s return to form is a massive boost for PBKS and will certainly be crucial with regard to the team’s playoff aspirations.
