'When I bowl I don't look at the name or reputation of a batter'

IPL's highest wicket taker and Punjab Kings' big buy, leggie discusses holding his own vs power-hitters

- Rasesh Mandani

MUMBAI: Wicket-taker could well be Yuzvendra Chahal's middle name. The leg-spinner is the most successful IPL bowler with 205 wickets. Until pacer Arshdeep Singh got past him recently, Chahal was also India's highest T20I wicket-taker. "When we were together at the (2024) T20 World Cup, I had told Arshdeep 'you are the one who will break my record'. I am very happy for him," he says in an interview.

Despite his consistency, Chahal has never made a splash in IPL player salary charts. Often due to the vagaries of the auction. That changed in the last auction when Punjab Kings secured his services for ₹18 crore, almost three times his average IPL salary.

"I missed the first few minutes of the auction because I was very nervous. The auction is like that. You don't know what price you will go for, which team. Lots of thoughts come to your mind. I am happy I am going to be closer home," he says. "When I asked myself, I got a reply from inside, 'Yes, I deserve this price'."

Chahal bowls with the red ball in English County these days — he will return to Northamptonshire after IPL. He's had his share of success with the Indian ODI team too. But T20 and IPL is where he has had the most success.