Yuzvendra Chahal and the value of quiet in a noisy game

The Indian Premier League can often seem like a young man’s game. There is always a new 20-year-old on the block, who has taken the place of the previous 21-year-old new kid, who took the place of the 22-year-old… you get the idea. Hell, even 15-year-olds score centuries these days.

And yet, every so often, a wily old veteran taps you on the shoulder and reminds you that experience still carries weight.

Yuzvendra Chahal did just that on Friday night, turning the tide for Punjab Kings in its clash against Chennai Super Kings with a spell of unconventionally conventional leg-spin at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, quietly shifting the game in the visitor’s favour as it secured a five-wicket win.

Spinners and Chepauk share a fabled legacy, yet Chahal’s spell was almost entirely shorn of the things one might expect from a leggie in Chennai. There were no puffs of dust, no balls ripping from outside leg to off stump, no batters left looking foolish while advancing down the wicket.

Instead, there was just enough turn, just enough dip, just enough variation in pace to make the batter question their commitment to the attacking shot for a split second, and when they did, create a chance for dismissal.

Chahal came into the attack in the seventh over, with an Ayush Mhatre-led CSK in the ascendancy after collecting 47 runs from the previous four overs, and began by conceding six singles in his first six balls. Two balls into his next over, he nearly had Mhatre, deceiving the youngster for pace with a loopy leg-break as he attempted the sweep, only for Vijaykumar Vyshak to spill a tough diving chance at short fine.

The wicket came off the first ball of his third over, Gaikwad looking to sweep a ball on leg that was just a little too short and picking out Nehal Wadhera at deep backward point. Three balls later, he should have had Mhatre again, this time beating him in flight as he advanced, but Shashank Singh dropped the catch sliding in from deep cover.

In an attempt to neutralise Chahal, CSK promoted its designated spin-hitter Shivam Dube to number four, but the wily 35-year-old navigated those overs by sticking to a leg-stump line, even at the cost of a couple of wides.

Chahal did not get a fourth over, with captain Shreyas Iyer later explaining that with Dube and adept players of spin like Kartik Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan at the crease, seamers were the more prudent option.

However, his final figures of 1 for 21, at an economy rate of seven, were remarkable given he was the only bowler in the match to concede fewer than nine runs an over and did not allow a single boundary in a game where runs flowed freely.

His performance was convincing enough that CSK coach Stephen Fleming later said his side opted to use Rahul Chahar as its Impact Sub over Jamie Overton, believing the pitch might slow down based on Chahal’s spell.

Friday night was a display straight from the playbook that has made Chahal the leading wicket-taker in IPL history, one that has almost gone out of fashion in modern T20 cricket. Spinners like Rashid Khan and Varun Chakaravarthy have found success with far flatter lines, almost looking to confront batters rather than deceive them.

Chahal’s display, by contrast, was a throwback, a mix of lines, lengths, and pace variations designed to prevent batters from lining him up and force them to think about what he might bowl rather than what shot they might play.

It is something his vice-captain, Shashank Singh, identified as one of his greatest strengths. “I think he’s a very smart guy. When you talk about the angles, the areas where you can hit the ball as a batsman, or when you speak to him regarding the wicket, he tells you exactly what to expect. We trust him because he’s very smart. And while bowling, we can see how he uses those angles,” Shashank said.

It also offered a glimpse of a shift in how performances might be valued as run-rates continue to climb. We have slowly come around to the idea that a single batter with a below-par strike rate can cost a team a match on a good batting surface. In the same vein, Chahal’s display showed how a bowler who can keep batters quiet on such pitches can be worth their weight in gold.

Published on Apr 04, 2026