How the mighty have fallen! There was a time when Yuzvendra Chahal was a go-to bowler for whichever team he played for in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Now, the veteran spinner isn’t even trusted to complete his quota of four overs in a huge ground like the Mullanpur Stadium. Coming in as a whopping Rs 18 crore buy, the returns Chahal has given to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) haven’t been enough.
Awful performance by Chahal in PBKS vs RR clash
In PBKS’ first home match of the IPL 2025, Rajasthan Royals (RR) had a superb opening partnership as Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal smacked the PBKS pacers. Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen and Marcus Stoinis all got whacked early on before Shreyas Iyer went to Chahal.
In the meantime, both Samson and Jaiswal lessened the run rate somewhat. Regardless, instead of going attacking, Chahal tried defensive lines. All the leg-spinner did is to dive on the leg side. While Chahal is still a great bowler when a batter tries to attack him, his impact diminishes when opposition just nudges him around.
In fact, Chahal started his second over with five wides that went down the leg side. Chahal did floated a couple of deliveries in that over, he wasn’t able to create massive impact.
In fact, Chahal didn’t even complete his quota of four overs, with Iyer depending upon Stoinis, who leaked 48 off his. Chahal, meanwhile, had an economy of 10.70.
Chahal no longer a threat in IPL
Yes, Chahal may be the leading wicket-taker in the IPL history, he has been a shadow of a bowler he really was before. In fact, in the last 12 months, no other bowler with at least 10 wickets has worse bowling average than Chahal’s 45.61.
In his last 15 IPL games, Chahal has managed to take just 13 wickets at an expensive economy rate of 10.22.
Players with worse bowling average in last 12 months ft. Chahal
| Player | Wickets | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 13 | 45.61 |
| Ravi Ashwin | 11 | 45.00 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | 12 | 38.75 |
| Pat Cummins | 17 | 37.11 |
There was a time when Chahal was certain to take wickets. In fact, he’s the same spinner who had a golden period, from 2020 to 2023, where he took 87 wickets at an unreal average of 19.97. PBKS would only hope Chahal’s returns only get better from here as the Kings have a serious chance of making into the qualifiers this time around. Big bucks spent on the likes of Iyer, Arshdeep Singh (18 cr) have been successful so far but Chahal really needs to up his game from here on!
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