Yuzvendra Chahal (Cricketer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Yuzvendra Chahal

• Does Yuzvendra Chahal drink alcohol?: Yes

• Chahal developed a great interest in both chess and cricket at the age of 7.

• Due to his thin physique, his friends used to call him “single haddi (bone).”

• He performed exceptionally well in his age-group chess tournaments; was the India national junior champion (U-12) in chess, and represented India in the World Cup in 2003 in Greece, with an overall career rating of 1946. 

• Though he wanted to pursue his career in chess, he quit playing it professionally for it being an expensive sport, and he was finding it difficult to get sponsors. Due to it, he got more inclined to cricket.

• He is the first ever player to represent India in both chess and cricket. 

• He started playing cricket as a medium-fast bowler but later on, he became a leg spinner.

• According to him, playing chess helps him to become more patient, controls his temper and makes him able to read batsman’s mind.

• He considers Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne as his idol.

• He made his first-class debut in November 2009 against Madhya Pradesh in Indore.

• He represented the Mumbai Indian in the initial 3-years of his IPL career, but played only one match for them, and in 2014 he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, that boosted his cricketing career.

• Mitchell Starc is his best friend in Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team’s squad.

• His biggest stressbusters are – Netflix and his phone.

• In November 2017, when the New Zealand cricket team toured India, Chahal and New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi played a chess game on the flight as the Indian cricket team and New Zealand cricket team travelled to Thiruvananthapuram for a T20 International match. 

• In September 2023, Chahal debuted in the County Championship with Kent, where he took three wickets against Nottinghamshire in a Division One fixture. ^[1]Mid-Day

• In November 2024, Chahal was purchased by the IPL team Punjab Kings for Rs. 18 crore, becoming the most expensive spinner in IPL auction history.

• In January 2025, speculations arose that Chahal and Dhanashree had decided to get divorced after the duo unfollowed each other on social media and Chahal removed all the photos he had in his account of her.

• On 20 February 2025, seeking an official separation from one another, Chahal and Verma filed for a divorce in Mumbai.

• In March 2025, the Bombay High Court ordered Yuzvendra Chahal to pay Rs. 4.75 Crore alimony to Dhanashree Verma, out of which Chahal had already paid Rs. 2.37 crore. The court also allowed them to waive a 6-month cooling period post-divorce and instructed a family court to give its judgment on their divorce proceedings on 20 March 2025.

• In the same month, rumours of him dating RJ Mahvash began circulating on the internet when they were both seen together in Dubai during the final Champions Trophy match. However, the rumours were rebuked by Mahvash in April 2025 when she claimed in an interview that she was single.

  

• On 30 April 2025, while playing for Punjab Kings (PBKS) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Chahal took 4 wickets for 32 runs. All four dismissals came in the 19th over, including a hat-trick in the last three balls of the over. For his hat-trick, he dismissed Deepak Hooda, Anshul Kamboj, and Noor Ahmad. This was his second hat-trick in the league and the first since the 2023 season. He became the second bowler after Yuvraj Singh to take two hat-tricks in the IPL.