With 233 scalps in 188 matches, he tops a list that includes Jasprit Bumrah , Sunil Narine , Ravichandran Ashwin and Lasith Malinga , among others. Chahal has not had a single opportunity to play Test cricket While he has played 72 ODIs (121 wickets) and 80 T20Is (96 wickets). If one searches for the highest wicket-taker in the IPL, Yuzvendra Chahal ‘s name comes right on top. But his career is full of paradoxes. In his personal life too, Chahal, who is known to be a jovial person, has gone through struggles. Alcohol addiction, divorce and public scrutiny – Chahal has gone through it all.
It crossed all limits, so I checked into a rehab centre and stayed there for 26 days. Last IPL, my body felt like I was 30 years old again – doing gym work, fielding drills and training properly,” he said. In 2011, I played my first IPL.
AB de Villiers once told me, ‘Balance is key in life. So I put an end to it, and now I am in a much happier and better space,” Chahal said. Now, I know how to handle it. That decision made a massive difference to my personal life. My maturity increased. My emotions are balanced now. “Initially, I was young. There were parties. It sounds easy, but it is not. Things got excessive after my divorce, and my mental state was not that great. I realised that if I continued down that path, I would ruin the very thing I love most – cricket.
“After last year of county cricket.
In my first year with Punjab Kings, when they paid Rs 18 crore for me, I felt, ‘They trusted me with so much money; I can’t let them down. In the KKR match, while defending 111, I realised I had to step up,” Chahal added. Because my mindset wasn’t right, i played two white-ball matches that year and then didn’t play T20s. Because of me,” he said, i wasn’t at 100%, and I didn’t want the team to suffer.
Let’s focus on the IPL,” he said. “When you have a public profile as a public figure, everything happening in your life becomes an invitation for people to comment. I felt bad, and there were a lot of difficulties. It affected my cricket as well. “Anxiety is like, the heartbeat increases. For me, my face would shrink during a panic attack. I couldn’t even speak; my lip would tighten and pull to one side, so people could figure out that something was wrong with me. That was the first time I realised how intense anxiety could be. Then I realised social media would say a lot of things. “When it slowly subsided, I decided to let it go. Social media will keep talking; you can’t shut everyone up. So I decided to start afresh.
