The veteran leg-spinner of the Indian side, Yuzvendra Chahal, has bagged a huge price of INR 18 crore during the mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The Haryana spinner came into the bidding war with a base price of INR 2 crore when the Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opened the fight.
Yuzvendra Chahal could have been a better player for both teams because of his special ability to pick up wickets in the middle overs of the innings. Later, Punjab Kings joined the bidding and stretched the price to INR 18 crore, during which they fought with the Lucknow Super Giants and the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The Indian spinner has enjoyed the shortest format, being the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with the help of 205 wickets in 159 innings at an average of 22.44 a strike rate of 17.17, and an economy rate of below eight with the help of six four-wicket hauls and one five-wicket haul.
Yuzvendra Chahal is also the highest wicket-taker of the national side in the 20-over format, shouldering on 96 wickets in 79 innings at an average of 25.09 and a strike rate of 18.9 and an economy rate of more than eight with the help of 6/25 as the best bowling figure.
Yuzvendra Chahal‘anxious and nervous’ with heavy price in IPL 2025 mega auction
The Jind-born spinner has been an integral part of the league for a long time, having been consistent in the middle overs with wickets, whether it’s for the Rajasthan Royals or the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) towards the start of his journey.
Yuzvendra Chahal is nervous but anxious to bag the amount he has grabbed for the entire last three seasons of the competition.
“I was quite nervous and anxious because this amount is what I got in the last three seasons combined. I think I deserve this price, and I am very excited.” The 34-year-old expressed during the interaction on Jio Cinema.
The spinner will share the dressing room with Shreyas Iyer, who is expected to be his captain, besides, having the presence of the left-arm seamer of the Indian side, Arshdeep Singh. The franchise will expect to get the right rhythm and momentum from the spinner, especially from the middle overs.
“I‘m excited as my bond with Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh is strong, and I will also get to learn a lot from Ricky Ponting sir. At least I’m closer to home now. It was Jaipur initially, and now it will be Chandigarh.” Yuzvendra Chahal interaction with Jio Cinema.
The veteran picked up 18 wickets in the 2024 season of the league for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 15 innings at an average of 30.33 and a strike rate of 19.3 at an economy rate of over nine with the best figure of 3/11 in an innings.
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He also recently finished with a special figure of 4/8 in the opening fixture of the Ranji Trophy 2024 against Manipur at the Wankhede Stadium. The PBKS side didn’t use their right-to-match card for the Indian spinner, Rahul Chahar, and that shows how much belief they will show in Chahal for contributing in the middle overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal is also the leading wicket-taker for the Indian side in the shortest format with the help of 358 wickets in 303 innings at an average of 23.51 and a strike rate of 18.3, and an economy rate of below eight with the best figures of under eight.