'Was tied, gagged and forgotten the whole night' - Yuzvendra Chahal's old podcast resurfaces after 'drunk cricketer' claim

Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has recalled some disturbing instances from his early years in the Indian Premier League. Chahal, who has represented three franchises in the league thus far, made his debut with the Mumbai Indians before shifting his base to the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He is currently with the Rajasthan Royals, who roped him in for INR 6.5 crore in the 2022 auction.

Chahal recounted a horrific and rather dangerous incident when two of his Australian teammates at Mumbai Indians – Andrew Symonds and James Franklin – tied, gagged and left him in that state for an entire night in a hotel in 2011. In another such deplorable instance, Chahal had talked about being hung from a 15th-floor balcony by his inebriated teammates during a post-match celebration in IPL 2013.

The spinner made his IPL debut with Mumbai in 2013, however, he was with the team during the Champions League previously. Recalling the 2011 instance that involved Symonds and Franklin, he said: “It was in 2011 after winning champions League in a Chennai hotel. He [Andrew Symonds] had drunk a lot of “fruit juice” (laughs). I was with him, only.

“James Franklin and he tied my hands and legs, and said ‘now you have to open’. They were in so much masti they have taped my mouth and forgot all about me. Party got over and in the morning, when a cleaner came, he saw me and freed me. They asked from when have I been here like this and I told them, ‘from the night itself.”

Asked whether his teammates apologised to him, Chahal denied saying: “No, they said sometimes when they drink “juice” so much, they can’t handle it and they can’t remember anything”.

Yuzvendra Chahal’s horrifying experience from IPL 2013

In a recent interaction, he also revealed the details of the balcony incident, admitting how the prank could have easily been a life-threatening one.

“I never told this story, from today, everyone will know. I never shared this. This dates back to 2013 when I was with Mumbai Indians, we had a match in Bangalore. There was a get-together after that. So, there was a player who was very drunk, I won’t say his name. He was very drunk, he was looking at me for a long time and he just called me and he took me outside and he hung me on the balcony,” Chahal said in a video put up by Rajasthan Royals.

“And my hands were around him, like this (behind the neck). Had I lost my grip, I was on the 15th floor. Suddenly many people who were there came and they handled it. I kind of fainted, they gave me water. Then I realized how responsible we need to be when we go anywhere. So, this was one incident where I felt I made a narrow escape. Had there been slightest of mistakes, I would’ve fallen down,” he added.