When the sun begins to fade away, you see darkness on the horizon. This aforementioned line can be used in cricket too. For a while there didn’t seem to be any flicker of light at the end of the dark tunnel for the wrist spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal. The wrist spinner hadn’t played a single limited-overs game for India since August 2023. After the first few games of the 2025 IPL, it seemed as if Chahal would be soon dropped by his franchise, Punjab Kings. He had plucked a mere two wickets for 167 runs and his economy rate was also on the higher side. The veteran perhaps needed a slice of luck to cling onto some hope.
Eventually, someone up there smiled on him. In the Punjab Kings-Kolkata Knight Riders game, Chahal dismissed Ajinkya Rahane. The KKR skipper could have availed the DRS in an attempt to overturn the LBW decision. However, he opted not to. The subsequent replays showed that the impact was outside off. Agony for KKR but at the same time it would have lifted the sagging spirits of Chahal.
After picking up that scalp, he started to impart some nice drift. Soon, Chahal lured Angkrish Raghuvanshi into playing the big shot with a nicely tossed up delivery. The youngster duly obliged as he mistimed a drive straight to backward point. In his very next over, he again combined drift and flight to send Rinku Singh on a long walk back to the hut.
Had they been playing on a raging turner or a pitch with erratic bounce, KKR’s failure to chase 112 might have been more easily explained. But on Tuesday, everything from Rahane’s decision not to review seemed bereft of logic.@BoriaMajumdar ✍️#PBKSvsKKRhttps://t.co/H6VCPfOXyC
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) April 16, 2025
From nowhere, he added one more scalp in the form of Ramandeep Singh’s wicket. Although Andre Russell spoiled his figures a touch by tonking sixes, he had changed the complexion of the game in a matter of minutes. Interestingly, Chahal’s comeback tale was a subset of PBKS’ come-from-behind win. After being shot out for a mere 111, the bowlers put on an inspiring show to chart a thrilling win. And Chahal proved to be the cornerstone of the morale-boosting victory.
Here’s what Chahal had to say to the host broadcaster about his stellar performance: “In the last game, I conceded 56 for 4 overs, but I had full confidence and backed myself and my abilities. I always have the mindset of how to get the batters out, I varied my pace and if they have to hit, they will have to make an effort.”
Ricky Ponting, the PBKS coach, added an extra layer to Chahal’s match-turning spell by observing that he had been struggling with an injury. “He had a fitness test before the game today with his shoulder injury that he picked up in his last game. I grabbed him at the warm-up, looked him in the eye and said, ‘mate, are you okay?’ He said, ‘Coach, I’m 100% alright, let me out there,’ and what a spell of bowling.”
The PBKS-KKR match also told us something about the unpredictable nature of sport. At one point of time, with Rahane batting in the middle, KKR seemed to be cruising towards the target. At 62 for 2, Chahal removed Rahane and the rest of the batting line-up collapsed in a heap. The action, the drama, the agony, the ecstasy. And there was a comeback tale too. All packaged into one to make it a sporting spectacle.
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Also Read PBKS vs KKR: Yuzvendra Chahal Sparks Dramatic Turnaround with Match-Winning Spell