Yuzvendra Chahal became the first bowler to reach the 200-wicket milestone in the IPL last year. Nobody else has made it there yet; Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is now bowling at 186, is the next best. However, after a year and five IPL 2025 games for his new side, the Punjab Kings (PBKS), concerns are beginning to surface regarding Chahal’s performance.
Chahal has not bowled his entire quota in three games this IPL and has only taken two wickets in five innings at an economy rate of 11.13. Chahal, a wicket-taking option, has never had a season economy rate of more than 9.41 (2024) since making his IPL debut in 2013. He is currently at 11.13 this year, and the 56 runs he let up in his four overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday did not assist that total.
Chahal has been playing a “safe game,” which is new for him, according to Piyush Chawal, another legspinner and the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL history.
“Well, he created that chance [Chahal dropped Abhishek Sharma off his own bowling] and you need at least one chance, and he created that one and he has nobody [else] to blame for that,” Chawla stated on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut program. He nearly made it there, but aside from that, I didn’t see Yuzvendra Chahal, who we used to see a few years ago and even up until last year, when both Abhishek and Travis Head were pursuing him later. Simply put, he wasn’t attempting to remove the batter. He was merely attempting to throw it wide and bowling defensively, which is a safer approach. We haven’t seen Yuzvendra Chahal.
On a flat ground like the one in Hyderabad, where the opposition is pursuing a massive target in a high-risk, high-reward game, what would Chawla have done?
“I have also not witnessed him bowling googlies. You will ultimately have an opportunity to grab a wicket or something similar if you bowl wide outside off stump for them [left-hand batsmen] and it goes away from there,” Chawla stated. But perhaps due to his poor form, he didn’t bowl that. He has bowled about 14–15 [15] overs this season, hasn’t bowled his four overs very often, and is currently giving up more than 11–12 runs in a season, which [makes] you want to play a defensive game.
“Your goal is to complete your four overs before attempting to take a wicket. However, I believed that today was the day when there were 245 runs on the board. Since you are trying for runs anyhow, you should aim to take wickets; if you do, you will be in the game.”
Chahal became the most expensive spinner ever purchased at an IPL auction when PBKS, who have never won the IPL, went all out for him at the auction, spending INR 18 crore. He is the best spinner they have. Will Chahal’s form impact PBKS as the playoff race intensifies, even if they have won three of their five games thus far?
“I think the few deliveries that he bowled when he picked up Travis Head’s wicket, that is what we need to see Yuzvendra Chahal bowl more often,” Wasim Jaffer stated. “I believe we are missing something when we see Yuzi because you are trying to spin the ball, bowl googly, and put some revolutions on the ball. He has a very defensive attitude, and you can see the pressure on his face that he’s not feeling well. However, he is the primary puzzle that Punjab must solve in order to improve.
India
