Royal Challengers Bangalore and Yuzvendra Chahal - A match made in heaven

There is no telling when life throws an opportunity at you. For Yuzvendra Chahal, a stint with the Mumbai Indians, playing alongside the legends of Indian cricket - Sachin Tendulkar, spinner Harbhajan Singh - might have sounded like an appealing prospect. But, it was not to be. Despite a successful Champions League T20 campaign in 2011, one which Mumbai Indians won with Chahal contributing significantly, he found opportunities hard to come by. However, all that was to change. A call-up from RCB came in the auction preceding the 2014 season, and Chahal’s career took a turn for the better.

Chahal was not one to be deprived of choices. He had to decide between Cricket and chess at a very young age, not an easy decision given he was no mug with the chess pawns either. Having represented India at the World Youth Chess Championships, Chahal had a tough decision to make, but it certainly seems he made the right one by choosing cricket. He went on to make his first-class debut for Haryana at the age of 19. An IPL call-up was to soon follow.

Today, Yuzvendra Chahal might be remembered for the star leggie for RCB. but back in 2011, he played a key role in depriving RCB of silverware. Playing for the Mumbai Indians, Chahal’s spell of 4 overs, giving away only 9 runs, and picking up 2 crucial wickets was instrumental in choking out RCB in a tricky run-chase in the finals of the Champions League T20 in 2011. However, any hopes of Chahal breaking through to the Playing XI of the Mumbai Indians consistently in the IPL would not materialize. He would only represent Mumbai Indians in the IPL in a solitary IPL game in 2013, and would never play for them again.

But, given Chahal’s calibre, it would not take much for Chahal to catch the attention of a keen eye. The Royal Challengers Bangalore and Yuzvendra Chahal formed the perfect combination, a partnership that has proved successful for both parties over the years. Chahal’s impressive performances in his debut season, one in which he picked up 12 wickets, and had an economy of 7.01, were enough to make the cricketing world take notice. He followed it up with a 23-wicket season in 2015, the highest tally for an RCB bowler, and only behind Dwayne Bravo and Lasith Malinga across the 8 teams, vanquishing any doubts over him being a one-season-wonder.

An Indian national team selection would soon follow in 2016 on the tour of Zimbabwe. His accurate leg-spinners and deceptive googlies mixed in with subtle variations in pace and flight have bamboozled batsmen over the years. 6 years, 83 matches and 100 wickets since his debut for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chahal has retured to the UAE, a country where he began his journey with the team that he now calls his home, as RCB look to mount a serious title challenge in the Dream 11 IPL 2020.