“My brain is always working”

We all know the chess story. Yuzvendra Chahal once called it his first love. But it isn’t what Chahal would have pursued, had he not been a cricketer.

“Growing up, I wanted to join the army. But had I seen my own size, I would have rejected myself!”

That, in one sentence, is Yuzvendra Chahal for you. Candid, humorous, all heart.

There are two contrasting forces inside Chahal’s personality. One is a seemingly happy-go-lucky, take-life-as-it-comes guy, the crowd’s favourite meme-lord. The other is a tactical, super wily wrist spinner, plotting moves in his head even when he isn’t bowling.

The first one has earned him widespread popularity in India. The second one has made him India’s most successful T20I spinner and the IPL’s all-time highest wicket-taker.

In nine of his last 11 IPL seasons, Chahal has taken at least 15 wickets, five times in excess of 20. Before 2024, only once had his season economy rate crossed 8.5.

It feels odd, then, to have not seen Chahal wear an India kit for nearly a year. India’s leading T20I wicket-taker, he was a shoo-in for their white-ball sides not too long ago.

And yet, he hasn’t played a single T20 World Cup game, and was a notable absence from the ODI World Cup last year.

“I’m used to it now… it’s been three World Cups!”, a laughing Chahal told Wisden last year, admitting he felt “a little bad” after missing out on a home World Cup having also been unused in the last two T20 World Cups.

The image of Chahal, solemnly waiting for his chance on the benches during the 2022 T20 World Cup, is still fresh. That year, he had picked up 23 T20I wickets, his joint best alongside 2017.

Now, nearly a year since his last India game, Chahal finds himself at a T20 World Cup in the Americas. It is a new turn in the career of a man about to turn 34.

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Chahal’s return to the India squad came just over a week after he became the first bowler to the milestone of 200 IPL wickets.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs, and I've enjoyed a lot too,” Chahal told broadcasters after the achievement. “I've learnt from my downs, and what I'm today is because of my downfalls and my close ones [support].”

The landmark aside, this IPL season has been an odd mix of ups and downs for Chahal. He took 11 wickets in the first six games, conceding over 40 just once. His staple offering, the loopy leg-break, were mixed well with defensive, flatter darts on the stumps, in a season that played out as the most fast-scoring ever.

Then came the match against Kolkata Knight Riders, when centurion Sunil Narine tore into him, and it went downhill thereafter. Over the next month, Chahal’s performances dropped: he only managed seven wickets in his next nine matches. The season economy rate went on to touch nearly 10.

He still finished as Royals’ second-highest wicket-taker this season, and had still done enough to earn a recall midway through the season, but the steep economy rate is a cause of worry. It's part of why he lost his India spot following particularly expensive spells in 2023. His last series was incidentally against West Indies in the Americas, where he went at 9.05, finishing with 0-51 in the last T20I.

Chahal’s dip coincided with the rise of Ravi Bishnoi, ten years his junior and more in his species' modern archetype, bowling with a flat trajectory and relying heavily on googlies and sliders. Bishnoi’s lukewarm series against Afghanistan in January, coupled with his worst IPL season yet, made space for Chahal’s re-entry.

When asked, Chahal named Bishnoi as a player he sees having a bright future “if he works on his leg-spin”. “ It’s really difficult to read him,” he added.

Despite the challenging times, Chahal is unlikely to veer much from his tested methods. His defensive bowling was a marked improvement in the first part of this IPL before things went awry, but it’s the power of taking things in stride that has made him an immensely successful white-ball spinner.

It’s an art that requires keeping on striving to strike while also making peace with getting hit. There are days you get hit for plenty, and you can only smile. On other days, you run through sides.

“I think it’s my self-belief”, Chahal told Wisden, when asked what he thinks makes him stand apart. “I believe a lot in my strength and I trust it. I don’t try anything new. The four deliveries I have, I focus on them.

“And I try to play with a batsman’s mind so [if] I bowl wider: an instinct, a voice comes from inside that I need to do this.”

When asked if bowlers need to reinvent themselves to counter ultra-aggressive T20 batting, Chahal promised he never tries to deviate from his natural game.

Yuzvendra Chahal’s first County Championship wicket was an absolute beauty 😮‍💨#CountyCricket2023pic.twitter.com/zcTbeRJbnY

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 11, 2023

“I just can’t do that: randomly bowl off spin, or stuff like that,” Chahal said. “I’ve never really thought of it. Tried it a couple of times but it didn’t work out. Then I focussed on my four deliveries and how to use them well, how to bowl from an angle. Sometimes, I bowl three googlies in a row. It’s about mixing up the four deliveries I have.”

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Chahal’s numbers see him sit alongside against the very best. Only Sunil Narine has more IPL four-wicket hauls. Among those with at least 100 wickets, no other spinner has a better strike rate.

It’s an achievement made more commendable because he has played most of his career in Bengaluru, where the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is a graveyard for bowlers.

“Playing eight years at the Chinnaswamy – it was a little tough there," Chahal recalled. "It’s a small ground, a small wicket: only sixes are hit off spinners there, I haven’t seen fours being hit!”

Chahal picked up 139 wickets at 22 for RCB, and there is little debate over him beind considered their best-ever bowler, but their joint journey culminated in an ugly separation after he wasn’t retained by them for IPL 2022.

It made him angry for “two-three days”.

“I did not receive any phone call,” he said recently. “No one even spoke to me.”

Since the bitter uncoupling, Chahal has become a critical part of the Rajasthan Royals team, ending as the top wicket-taker in IPL 2022. Now, he is just one short of being their all-time leading wicket-taker as well.

“I started bowling at the death – that didn’t used to happen before,” Chahal said about his changed role at RR. “I have gained a lot of confidence on how to bowl yorkers and that’s helped me a lot.”

Chahal now plays for a team where his idol, the great Shane Warne, turned into one of the IPL’s first superstars. Chahal copied his action until he was 19, and still watches his videos. Like Warne, he also doesn’t hold back when speaking his mind.

“No 60-yard boundaries. You need 75-yard boundaries!” he smiled, when asked if he could change one Law in cricket, taking a jab at the modern game’s lopsidedness.

“Sometimes the wicket is too flat. There’s dew. It’s really hard to bowl: there’s nothing left for bowlers then. It’s become a batsman’s game. Bats are huge, boundaries are small. There's a new ball on both sides.

“Where will the poor bowler go?”

Chahal doesn't let his opinions on how the game should change stop him from getting to grips with how things are right now.

“We have practised a lot in the nets with a wet ball,” Chahal said. “When we think there’s dew in the next game, we bowl three-four overs with a wet ball. Now we’re used to it. It’s not like we’re never seen dew. But if it’s a lot, it definitely is a problem.

“The ball doesn’t turn. With the wrist, the ball can go a bit up and down. That’s a factor, but we’re managing it. We try to not think about the dew, but think about the game. If you are thinking about the dew, you’re already on the backfoot.

“Whatever is not in my hands, I don’t think about it. Dew or not, I need to perform.”

On the outside, Chahal’s image as the jovial prankster hasn’t dimmed, but isn’t a true reflection of his cricketing brains.

“One is professional, the other personal,” Chahal said. “When I am on the ground, it’s a different Yuzi.

“It’s not like I don’t have fun at the ground, but the mind keeps working because I know… even when I am fielding, my mind is running about the batter and how he’s playing.”

“Before me, if there’s a different spinner bowling, I notice how he’s playing him: if he’s stepping out more or using the crease better. My brain is always working.”

“When I am outside, I love to enjoy life. I love being happy, having fun because you don’t know about tomorrow.

“Live today to the fullest.”

Despite being a fan favourite, Chahal has faced unending trolling on social media around his personal life. For him, the best way to tackle has been through ignorance, leaving no room for jealousy to win.

“I just ignore,” Chahal said. “Because those commenting … and I have said it before … they have three-four followers. They have someone else’s display picture. They have made the account to bully someone.

“They are very jealous people. They think: ‘We’re not getting this in life, how is he achieving it?’ How is he happy?’ That’s all they do.”

“And I ignore them: how many people will you deal with? If you react to one of them, more will come back. That’s why I ignore them. It doesn’t matter to me what they are saying, what they are commenting on.

“Whenever I post something on social media, I reply to those I know. Rest, I don’t read anything about what someone is randomly writing about me, or who’ll say what.”

There’s life beyond cricketing duties, and the break gave Chahal time to enjoy that personal space. It’s a world that revolves around his wife – choreographer Dhanashree Verma – his two dogs – Groot and Scotty – and some mobile gaming.

“I love to spend time with my family, my wife. I love to play with my dogs whenever I go home. And I love playing BGMI [Battlegrounds Mobile India].”

Right now, though, the focus is firmly back on cricket. Back in the mix, he would be determined to claw his way back into the India team. Given the tussle for spots within, it won’t be an easy comeback.

But it still is a chance to realise his one big career aspiration before he retires.

“I think the World Cup,” Chahal had said. “I want to lift the World Cup. That would be good.”