Yuzvendra Chahal belongs to the breed of disappearing spinners

Yuzvendra Chahal belongs to the breed of disappearing spinners: He has represented India in the Under19 Chess team. His name appears in FIDE’s official site. Subsequently, he heralded the ‘Red Cherry’, the ‘Kookaburra’ and the willow to became a cricketer.

25-year old Yuzvendra Chahal represents Haryana in the domestic circuit. This right-arm leggie made his first-class debut in 2009 against Madhya Pradesh and went wicket-less, having bowled 16 overs in the match.

He first drew attention in the U19 Cooch Behar Trophy in 2009, in which he ended as the leading wicket taker in the tournament.

Chahal clearly belongs to the breed of disappearing spinners. The IPL 2011 auction saw him being ‘bought over’ by Mumbai Indians, but could not make it to the Playing XI in any game. He remained with the franchisee for a couple of more seasons and then was released in 2014.

Fortune smiled on him when Royal Challengers Bangalore ‘purchased’ him for Rs 10 lacs in IPL 2014 auction. Playing 14 matches in the season he picked up 12 wickets at an average of 32.16 with 2/12 being the best bowling figures.

IPL 2015 has been ‘happy hunting’ for him. In the 15 games he played, Chahal has picked up 23 wickets at an average of 18.04 with 3/40 being the best bowling figures. This, he achieved, playing against Chennai Super Kings in Bengaluru. However, this performance came up on a losing cause.

Chahal is one spinner who believes in ‘purchasing’ the wickets. He does not mind being hit out of the park, as long as, he is able to deceive the batsmen by ‘pulling back the length’, a shade shorter, compelling the already committed batsmen to make the mistake of, either scooping a catch or being beaten by the spin and get bowled.

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper, Virat Kohli, more often than not, tossed the ball to the young Chahal when the going got a bit tough and he was looking for a breakthrough.

However, the youngster’s performance in Ranji Trophy 2015-16 has been far from satisfactory. Playing in four matches (five innings), Chahal has been able to pick up only 7 wickets, giving away a massive 402 runs.

His worst bowling effort has been in the game against Vidarbha, in which he gave away as many as 137 runs in his spell of 45 overs and claimed a solitary wicket.

Playing in the second game against Karnataka, in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015-16, Chahal has picked up a couple of wickets.

With still a long way to go in this tournament, it would be interesting to see how this youngster shapes up in preparation for the next season of IPL.