Yuzvendra Chahal

The spinner further said that “we have a good team” ahead of the 2023 ICC World Cup. “Everyone is training,” he said on a YouTube channel ‘Cricket Basu’, explaining that members of the Indian squad are getting ready for the clash in the West Indies as well as Ireland.

Chahal was one of the integral parts of the RCB since the 2014 edition, and had represented the franchise in 114 matches. He made his mark with impressive performances at one of the toughest stadiums for bowlers in the IPL -- the M Chinnaswamy -- where smaller boundaries usually make it tougher for the bowling side to restrict the batters.

Yuzvendra Chahal became the leading wicket-taker in the history of the IPL through a mesmerising 4/25 while Yashasvi Jaiswal made a mockery of a two-paced pitch by smashing an unbeaten 47-ball 98, including the quickest-ever fifty of the tournament in 13 balls, as Rajasthan Royals thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets here on Thursday.

The experts panel at Star Sports feels that Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad - who are the frontrunners in the Orange Cap race - might actually end up winning it by the end of yet another exciting season. They also said that Rajasthan Royals star spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Gujarat Titans' talisman Rashid Khan are primed to win the Purple Cap, awarded to the most successful bowler at the end of the tournament.

A total of 204 players were picked by the 10 franchise after shelling out a total of Rs 551.70 cr during the enthralling two day IPL 2022 mega auction with Ishan Kishan (Rs 15.25 cr), Deepak Chahar (Rs 14 cr) and Shreyas Iyer (Rs 12.25 cr) emerging as top-three earners, ahead of the exciting 15th season of cash-rich league.

In the recently-concluded three-match ODI series, which India lost 0-3, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal were out-bowled by South Africa's troika of spinners, Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and part-timer Aiden Markram. The 35-year old Ashwin, who was brought back to the ODI squad for the first time since 2017, picked up only one wicket in two matches before he was replaced by Jayant Yadav in the third ODI.

"When Kuldeep Yadav and I used to play, Hardik Pandya was also there and he would bowl. In 2018, Hardik Pandya got injured and Ravindra Jadeja made a comeback (in white-ball cricket) as an all-rounder, the one who could also bat at number 7. Unfortunately, he is a spinner. We could have played together if he was a medium pacer. It was the demand of the team," Chahal told Sports Tak in an interview.

"I started watching videos of Shane Warne sir, and that's where I realised what leg-spin is. He was my idol, and I wanted to be like him, bowl like him. You know, his name was all over the headlines and newspapers. I used to enjoy the way he used to trap the batsman. One class that he had was about controlling the drift, so that's what I learnt by watching his videos all the time," said Chahal.

On Sunday, Chahal returned with figures of 1/51 in his four overs during the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and in the process took his overall T20I wicket tally to 59. While Bumrah has taken 50 matches to scalp 59 wickets, Chahal has taken 44 games to pick the same number of wickets, with best figures of 6/25.