Yuzvendra Chahal is India’s leading wicket-taker in T20I cricket, with 72 wickets in 57 matches.
The spinner, who grabbed a wicket on his T20I debut for the Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in 2016, has grown into one of the key bowlers for the Men in Blue in 20-overs cricket in recent years.
The 31-year-old has enjoyed bowling against Sri Lanka and England in T20 Internationals, having scalped 17 and 12 wickets against the teams, respectively.
As a matter of fact, England is the opponent against whom Chahal registered his best performance.
Yuzvendra Chahal best bowling figures in T20Is
2017 - 6/25 vs England
Chasing a target of 203 set by India, England lost their first wicket in the second over as Chahal dismissed Sam Billings for a duck. The Indian spinner would come to find more victims when he returned to bowl in the 14th over, claiming the important scalps of Eoin Morgan (13.3 overs) and Joe Root (13.4 overs) in succession.
His next set of wickets came in his final over as he dismissed Moeen Ali (15.1 overs), Ben Stokes (15.4 overs) and Chris Jordan (15.6 overs) to reduce England to 127/8.
2017 - 4/23 and 4/52 vs Sri Lanka
His next best spells in T20I cricket came against Sri Lanka, with four-wicket hauls in successive matches in December 2017.
Chahal grabbed a 4/23 in the opening match of the three-game T20I series at Cuttack. The spinner took his first wicket in the fifth over, with his delivery forcing Upul Tharanga to attempt a sweep shot that unfortunately got a thin inside-edge onto the pad and went straight towards MS Dhoni.
His next three victims were Angelo Mathews (7.2 overs), Asela Gunaratne (9 overs) and Thisara Perera (11.1 overs).
After his splendid performance at Cuttack, Yuzvendra Chahal took another four-fer against the visiting Lankan Lions in the second T20I at Indore.
Chahal made a breakthrough in the second half of Sri Lanka’s run chase of 261. His caught and bowled dismissal of Upul Tharanga in the 14th over effectively brought the curtains down on a 109-run stand for the second wicket between Tharanga and Kusal Perera.
The leg-break bowler would add three more scalps, with the dismissals of Chaturanga de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Akila Dananjaya coming in the 16th over where Chahal conceded nine runs. He ended his spell with figures of 4/52.
2018 - 3/18 vs Bangladesh
This fixture is of special significance for Yuzvendra Chahal as his efforts helped India beat Bangladesh in the final of the Tri-series involving Sri Lanka.
Having opted to field first, Chahal got his first wicket as Tamim Iqbal lobbed his delivery towards Shardul Thakur who stood on the very edge of the long-on boundary. Thakur, in turn, completed the catch just avoiding falling behind the rope.
Chahal would end the over with his second scalp as Soumya Sarkar swept towards square leg only for Shikhar Dhawan to collect it.
At the start of the 11th over, the 31-year-old bowled a googly for Mushfiqur Rahim who miscued it and the ball, which hit the top edge of the bat, went up in the air. Vijay Shankar completed the catch successfully with a dive to his right.
2022 - 3/20 vs South Africa
After below-par showings in the opening two games of the 2022 India vs South Africa T20I series, Yuzvendra Chahal returned to his best with bowling figures of 3/20.
The spinner forged a good partnership with captain Rishabh Pant, as they combined to dismiss Rassie van der Dussen (6.5 overs) and Dwaine Pretorius (8.6 overs).
Both the batters saw Chahal bowl to them with a little drift on the ball. It hit the edge of their bats and Pant took the catches behind the stumps.
The 31-year-old’s final victim of the night was Heinrich Klaasen, who ballooned Yuzvendra Chahal’s full delivery towards extra cover where Axar Patel took the catch.
Author: William Paul
Featured photo: AFP / SURJEET YADAV
