Yuzvendra Chahal apart from being an Indian player is also a former chess player who represented India internationally in chess at youth level. Yuzvendra represented India in cricket in both One Day Internationals (ODI) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20).
Yuzvendra Chahal plays for Haryana in domestic cricket and Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) in Indian Premier League (IPL).
Here’s some interesting facts to know about the Indian leg-spinner:
Started as a chess player:
Yuzvendra Chahal, unlike most of the cricketers did not start with the cricket during his childhood. Yuzvendra since childhood had a keen interest in chess and hence, Yuzvendra represented India in 2002, in the Asian as well as youth championships in chess during his teenage.
Started initially as a medium-pacer:
At first Yuzvendra Chahal used to be a medium-pacer but later on he shifted his focus to leg spin and soon he mastered the art.
Only player to represent India in chess and cricket:
Yuzvendra Chahal who represents Haryana in Ranji Trophy, is the only player to represent India in both chess as well as in cricket. He can still be seen listed in FIDE’s official website in 1946 points.
First limelight:
Yuzvendra Chahal the Indian leg-spinner first attracted the attention in 2009, National U-19 Cooch Behar’s Trophy as it’s leading wicket-taker, when he took 34 wickets in the tournament.
Debut:
Yuzvendra Chahal made his first-class debut for Haryana in the same year in 2009 against Indore.
Purple cap holder:
Yuzvendra Chahal is currently the purple cap holder in IPL 9. Yuzvendra Chahal has 19 wickets to his name from 11 games with an average of 17.05.
Yuzvendra took his best bowling figures of 4/25 against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) just few days ago.
Second highest wicket-taker:
While playing for the Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) in 2016, Yuzvendra Chahal was the second highest wicket-taker.
Man of the match:
Yuzvendra Chahal in his very second ODI match against Zimbabwe, became the man of the match after taking 3 for 25 runs.
Football fan:
Apart from cricket and chess, Yuzvendra Chahal also has an interest in football. He is a Real Madrid supporter and his favorite footballer is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Yuzvendra Chahal has played 20 first-class matches and 77 T20 matches till date, where he has taken 37, 25 and 80 wickets respectively.
Yuzvendra Chahal is seen playing with Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) squad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
