Happy Birthday Yuzvendra Chahal: Top 5 spells of leg-spinner in Indian outfit

Since his international debut in 2016, Yuzvendra Chahal has proved himself to be one of the best spinners in the Indian brigade. But, before his appearance in the Indian outfit, the leggie had already been popular among cricket fans due to his excellent bowling performances for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. Chahal started his IPL journey for Mumbai Indians in 2011 and joined the Bangalore-based franchise ahead of the 2014 season.  After his impressive consistency for RCB, Chahal got his maiden call-up for India in the 2016 Zimbabwe tour. Over the years, the exceptional bowler has delivered many match-winning spells for the Men in Blue and emerged as a fearsome opponent in limited-over cricket. Till now, the 32-year-old bowler has played 64 One Day Internationals and 62 T20 Internationals for India scalping a total of 111 and 79 wickets respectively.

127 international games 👌
192 international wickets 💪
Fastest Indian bowler (in Men's cricket) to scalp 50 T20I wickets 👍
1st Indian bowler (in Men's cricket) to take a 5-wicket haul in T20Is 🔝

Here's wishing #TeamIndia leg-spinner @yuzi_chahal a very happy birthday. 🎂👏 pic.twitter.com/aGtBAyFP0q

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 23, 2022

Today, on the occasion of his 32nd birthday, let’s have a look at Yuzvendra Chahal’s top bowling figures for India: 6 wickets for 42 runs vs Australia in 2019: Chahal’s career-best figures came in an ODI against Australia. Batting first, the Aussies had lost two early wickets. Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh tried to stabilise the innings and stitched a 73-run partnership. Then, Chahal was introduced into the attack. He picked up three wickets in quick succession. He also got three wickets to his name in death overs to complete a six-wicket haul, giving away just 42 runs in 10 overs. The Aussies were bundled out for 230 runs. India ultimately won by 7 wickets. 6 wickets for 25 runs vs England in 2017: While chasing down a target of 203 runs in 20 overs, England started off well and was looking comfortable after they made 119/2 in 14 overs. But then, Chahal took charge of the game and completely destroyed the English batting line-up. During his 4-over spell, the Indian leg spinner picked up 6 crucial wickets for just 25 runs. The figures became more memorable as the match was being played at his then IPL team RCB’s home ground Chinnaswamy Stadium. 5 wickets for 22 runs vs South Africa in 2018: It was in an away ODI game against South Africa that Chahal scythed through the Proteas batting unit and got the first five-wicket haul of his career. The remarkable bowling performance helped India bundle out the hosts for 118 runs at the Centurion. During his 8.1 over spell, Chahal gave away just 22 runs and also bowled a maiden over. 4 wickets for 23 runs vs Sri Lanka in 2017: India had the responsibility to defend 181 runs in 20 overs against Sri Lanka. The collective efforts of Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, and Hardik Pandya took the Islanders down to their knees. With Chahal taking 4 wickets for just 23 runs, the Sri Lankan innings concluded at 87 runs giving India a victory by a margin of 94 runs. 4 wickets for 47 runs vs England in 2022: While other Indian bowlers failed to put up a strong challenge in front of England, Chahal recorded the best bowling figures by any Indian at the Home of Cricket- Lord’s. He took 4 wickets in his 10-over spell conceding just 47 runs to restrict the hosts to 246 runs. However, in the end, India suffered a massive 100-run defeat as the batters failed to build an innings.