15 Facts about Piyush Chawla - The Lucky Mascot of Indian Cricket

As a 15-year old, Piyush Chawla represented India U-19, as well as Uttar Pradesh U-22. He was a part of the victorious Indian side in the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and the ICC World Cup 2011. He became the talking point in the international circuit after getting the better of English batsman Kevin Pietersen in 2007. Let’s check out some of the interesting facts about Piyush Chawla, the promising Indian leg-spinner:

1. Born and brought up:

Piyush Pramod Chawla was born on 24 December 1988 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.

2. Major teams:

He represented India, Air India, Central Zone, India Green, India Under-19s, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Cricket Association President’s XI, Somerset, Sussex and Uttar Pradesh.

3. Life event:

Piyush got married to Anubhuti Chauhan in the year 2013.

4. Hogging the limelight:

In the 2005-06 Challenger Trophy, he bowled Sachin Tendulkar with a googly and bowled in an impressive manner, picking up the wickets of MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh too. Following which his name was highlighted in the media and everyone including the selectors took notice.

5. U-19 highs:

He first represented India U-19 against the England U-19 team in 2004-05, claiming 13 wickets from two Under-19 Tests at a bowling average of just above 12. He also played in the 2005-06 home series against Australia U-19, where they won the five-match limited overs series 4-1; he had made a contribution of eight wickets.

6. U-19 Record:

Chawla is the second highest wicket-taker in U19 ODIs, with 71 wickets. He also has the second-best average in U19 Tests- 15.82. The leggie was had the most wickets for an Indian in the U19 World Cup 2006 with 13 wickets.

7. Young wings:

He made his debut in 2006, with the second Test against England in Mohali, making him the second youngest Test debutant for India after Sachin Tendulkar.

8. Blue debut: 

He made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in the year 2007. Chawla scalped three vital wickets in that game.

9. County champion:

In 2009, Chawla signed for Sussex County Cricket Club for a month, as cover for Yasir Arafat who was with Pakistan. In his first County Championship match against Worcestershire, he took a total of 8 wickets in the match, and came in at number 9 in the first innings, and scored 102* from only 86 balls.

10. Big games:

He was picked for the 2007 ICC World T20. He was selected for 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in West Indies. Later, he made the cut for ICC World Cup 2011 as well and played a match against England.

11. IPL star:

Chawla played in the IPL for the Kings XI Punjab team from 2008 to 2013. He had a successful time at Punjab. After IPL 4 he had taken 57 in 55 matches and only 5 players had better stats than the leggie.

12. KKR man:

Chawla was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 425 lac in the IPL 7 auction. He bowled beautifully for the Knight Riders and also stroked the winning runs against his previous franchise Kings XI Punjab in the final match of the season.

13. Milestones:

Playing for KKR, Piyush Chawla became the fourth bowler after Harbhajan Singh (MI), Lasith Malinga (MI) and Amit Mishra (DD) to take 100 wickets in the IPL.

14. Express one:

Chawla once bowled Shane Watson with a quicker one, which read 117 km/hr. One of the fastest deliveries by a spinner.

15. Somerset’s match winner:

The Indian spinner, coming in at number 9 scored a sublime century of 140 balls during 2013 County championship.