Kuldeep Yadav may currently be the preferred wristspinner in India’s white-ball teams, but a bowler with whom he tasted a lot of success, as a pair, continues to show his worth in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Yuzvendra Chahal may have last played for India in 2023, but he continues to show his worth in the IPL, where his ability to control the game in the middle overs is arguably better than anybody in the tournament.
Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin heaped praise on Chahal for the way he deceived Jos Buttler in the Punjab Kings’ match against the Gujarat Titans on Tuesday, explaining the differences between him and the likes of the Mumbai Indians spin duo of Allah Ghazanfar and Mayank Markhande.
What yuzi delivered yesterday against Butler was a master class in T 20 spin bowling.
Look at the starting line of the ball on the left and where it ends up to cut Butlers bat swing on the right.
The next picture illustrates how Markande and Allah landed deliveries in the… pic.twitter.com/XmkmlmEItD
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) April 1, 2026
The 39-year-old spoke about how Chahal had managed to plan, but more crucially executed the delivery to dismiss the former England captain, adding that he could not wait to see him do well in this season of the IPL.
“What Yuzi delivered yesterday against Butler was a master class in T20 spin bowling. Look at the starting line of the ball on the left and where it ends up to cut Butlers bat swing on the right.”
“The next picture illustrates how Markande and Allah landed deliveries in the wheelhouse of the batter. Planning to bowl a delivery is just the tip of the iceberg, while executing the desired delivery is what differentiates the best from the rest. Yuzi is back and can’t wait to see him do his thing this season,” Ashwin wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
During the mid-innings break, Chahal, who took 2/28 in his four overs, explained that a spinner had to beat a batsman in the air on a surface like the one on Tuesday, and he focussed on varying his line and pace against the opposition batters.
“Definitely, in the evening when I saw the wicket, I thought it’d be dry. And when the fast bowlers start bowling cutters, so I like a little bit of grip was there. You need to beat the batters in the flight here. I varied my pace and line, starting with some wide deliveries and then moving to the stumps line,” the leg-spinner said.
