India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has signed up to play in the ongoing County Championship season for Kent.

Kent have announced that they have signed Yuzvendra Chahal, the star India leg-spinner, for their three remaining games in the ongoing 2023 County Championship season.

Chahal has been a regular in the Indian white-ball teams for the last six years now, having made his international debut in 2016. He has taken 121 ODI wickets from 71 games while his T20I wickets tally reads 96 from 80 matches. Recently, Chahal was snubbed of a spot in the 2023 World Cup when India announced their preliminary squad for the event.

Despite being highly experienced in white-ball cricket, Chahal has not had as much success in his first-class career so far. He has played only 33 first-class games and has taken 87 wickets at an average of 35.25. His last first-class appearance was in December 2022 in the Ranji Trophy for his state team Haryana.

Speaking about the opportunity to play for Kent in the County Championship, Chahal said, “This is an exciting challenge for me, playing in English county cricket, and one I’m very much looking forward to.”

India left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh has already appeared for Kent in the current County Championship season, making Chahal the second India bowler to play for the club side this year.

Paul Downton, Kent’s director of cricket, said that they are happy with the signing of Chahal since their two first-choice leg-spinners, Matt Parkinson and Hamidullah Qadri, won’t be available.

“We’re delighted to have secured a spinner of Yuzvendra’s quality for the last three Championship matches of the season, with Matt Parkinson not available to us until next year, and Hami Qadri recently injured,” said Downton. “He is really looking forward to playing in English conditions and will bring a significant amount of skill and international experience to our squad.”

Chahal will be available for three games for Kent – two home games against Nottinghamshire and Lancashire, and one away game against Somerset. The side are second from bottom in Division One of the County Championship, and face a battle to avoid relegation.

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