Yuzvendra Chahal is the leading wicket-taker in IPL history with 225 wickets in 180 matches. The Punjab Kings leg-spinner became the first bowler to cross 200 IPL wickets in 2024 and currently holds the franchise records for most wickets at Royal Challengers Bangalore (139) and a Purple Cap with Rajasthan Royals (27 in 2022). Here’s the complete Chahal career profile, every record he holds, and the new role he’s playing as PBKS’s spin spearhead.
Quick Answer
Yuzvendra Chahal (born 23 July 1990) is a right-arm leg-spinner playing for Punjab Kings. Career IPL: 225 wickets in 180 matches, economy 8.01, average 23.09, best 5/40. Purple Cap winner 2022 (27 wickets for RR). First bowler to 200 IPL wickets in 2024. Held back by Mumbai Indians for three seasons before his RCB breakout in 2014. Auction 2025: ₹18 crore (PBKS, retained for 2026) — most expensive Indian spinner in IPL history.
From Chess Prodigy to IPL’s Most Decorated Spinner
Born on 23 July 1990 in Jind, Haryana, Yuzvendra Chahal had an unusual route to professional cricket. Before turning to cricket full-time, he represented India at the World Youth Chess Championship — the only player in cricketing history to represent the country in both chess and cricket. Mumbai Indians spotted his Haryana domestic form and signed him in 2011 at base price ₹10 lakh. The next three seasons brought him exactly one IPL match. He bowled 4 overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013 and was promptly released.
The 2014 RCB auction changed his career. Picked up again for ₹10 lakh, Chahal played all 14 matches that season, took 12 wickets, and never looked back. Over eight seasons at RCB (2014–2021), he became the franchise’s leading spinner and the only bowler to take 100-plus IPL wickets for them (139 total). The mid-2010s peak years had him taking 20-plus wickets in three consecutive seasons. His international debut followed in June 2016 after the 2015 IPL where he was Virat Kohli’s go-to wrist spinner.
RCB shockingly released him before the 2022 mega auction. Rajasthan Royals signed him for ₹6.5 crore and got an immediate return: Purple Cap, 27 wickets, a hat-trick plus 5-wicket haul against KKR on 18 April 2022, and a finals appearance. He became the first Indian to 300 T20 wickets across all formats in 2023. The first to cross 200 IPL wickets in 2024. Punjab Kings paid ₹18 crore at the 2025 mega auction — the most expensive Indian spinner ever — and Chahal took another hat-trick against CSK in 2025, plus the famous 4/28 defending 111 against KKR (the lowest IPL total ever defended).
📊 Why Chahal Sits Above Every IPL Bowler
Chahal’s 225 wickets at strike rate 17.4 balls per wicket is the most prolific wicket-taking pace of any IPL bowler with 100-plus career wickets. He bowls roughly 88% of his career wickets after the 10th over (per ESPNcricinfo Statsguru estimates), positioning him as a middle-overs and wicket-taking specialist rather than a containment bowler. His average at Wankhede Stadium (~21.2) is significantly better than at his former home Chinnaswamy (~28.1) — proof that smaller boundaries punish his spin-vs-strike-rotation strategy while bigger venues reward it. Among current IPL spinners, his 225 wickets sits 65+ ahead of Rashid Khan and 70+ ahead of Sunil Narine.
Yuzvendra Chahal IPL Career — Season by Season
| Season | Team | M | Wkts | Avg | Econ | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | MI | 1 | 0 | — | 8.50 | 0/34 |
| 2014 | RCB | 14 | 12 | 32.16 | 7.01 | 2/15 |
| 2015 | RCB | 15 | 23 | 16.04 | 7.95 | 3/22 |
| 2016 | RCB | 13 | 21 | 22.66 | 8.15 | 4/25 |
| 2017 | RCB | 14 | 12 | 34.83 | 8.61 | 3/27 |
| 2018 | RCB | 14 | 12 | 32.66 | 8.16 | 2/19 |
| 2019 | RCB | 13 | 18 | 25.61 | 8.05 | 3/19 |
| 2020 | RCB | 15 | 21 | 20.85 | 7.08 | 3/18 |
| 2021 | RCB | 13 | 18 | 22.55 | 7.43 | 3/11 |
| 2022 | RR | 17 | 27 | 19.50 | 7.75 | 5/40 |
| 2023 | RR | 14 | 21 | 22.85 | 8.50 | 4/17 |
| 2024 | RR | 15 | 18 | 27.50 | 8.40 | 3/27 |
| 2025 | PBKS | 15 | 18 | 26.50 | 8.50 | 4/28 |
| 2026* | PBKS | 11 | 4 | 56.25 | 8.10 | 1/30 |
| Career | — | 180 | 225 | 23.09 | 8.01 | 5/40 |
Records Held — A 13-Season Cabinet
🏆 Chahal’s IPL Records
Most wickets in IPL history: 225 — the only bowler to cross 200. First IPL bowler to 200 wickets: 2024. Most wickets for RCB: 139 — the only bowler to cross 100 wickets for them. Purple Cap winner 2022: 27 wickets, including 5/40 vs KKR. Most wickets by a leg-spinner in a single IPL season: 27 in 2022 (broke Imran Tahir’s record). Two hat-tricks: vs KKR in 2022 and vs CSK in 2025 — the only Indian spinner with multiple IPL hat-tricks. 8 four-wicket hauls. Most expensive Indian spinner in IPL history: ₹18 crore PBKS auction 2025.
IPL 2026 — A Subdued Season for the No. 1 Wicket-Taker
IPL 2026 has been Chahal’s quietest stretch in years — 4 wickets in 11 matches, economy 8.10. PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer has used him as a defensive option rather than the attacking weapon Rajasthan deployed in 2022. The team’s lean pace attack of Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, and Vyshak Vijaykumar has dominated the wicket column, with Chahal often coming in third- or fourth-change. Despite the reduced returns, his ESPN-tracked middle-overs strike rate (14.8 balls per wicket in overs 11-15) remains the best among all active IPL spinners — meaning when PBKS use him in the right phase, he still finds wickets. The PBKS playoff race is alive (currently 4th in standings) and his three remaining games could rewrite his 2026 season.
RCB Era (2014–2021)
- Wickets: 139 in 113 matches
- Average: 23.94, Economy: 7.69
- Role: Kohli’s strike spinner, middle-overs
- Best season: 23 wickets in 2015
- Trophies: 1 final appearance (2016, lost)
Post-RCB (2022–present)
- Wickets: 86 in 67 matches
- Average: 22.50, Economy: 8.30
- Role: senior spinner across two franchises
- Best season: 27 wickets in 2022 (Purple Cap)
- Trophies: 1 final appearance (2022, lost)
Chahal sitting on top of the IPL wicket list is the league’s most underrated achievement. He’s done it as a leg-spinner — the most punished bowling type in modern T20 — across 13 IPL seasons, four franchises, and through a period when batters reverse-swept and slogged spinners off length. Career economy 8.01 isn’t tidy, but it’s the price of attacking, and he’s bought 225 wickets with those runs. Among all bowlers with 150-plus IPL wickets, his strike rate of 17.4 balls per wicket is the second-best behind only Jasprit Bumrah. That’s elite company.
The contrarian read: he’s never been an IPL champion. Three finals (2016 RCB, 2022 RR, 2025 PBKS), three losses. At 35, the IPL 2026 PBKS team may be his last realistic title shot — Punjab sit fourth with three games left, and they’ll need their senior spinner to be the wicket-taker their pace attack can’t always be. If PBKS make the final and Chahal takes 3-plus in a knockout match, the legacy gets the chapter it’s been missing. If they fall short again, he goes down as the greatest wicket-taking IPL bowler without a trophy.
Yuzvendra Chahal IPL — FAQs
How many wickets does Yuzvendra Chahal have in IPL?
Yuzvendra Chahal has 225 IPL wickets from 180 matches at an average of 23.09, economy rate 8.01, and strike rate 17.4 balls per wicket. His best bowling figures are 5/40 against KKR for Rajasthan Royals in 2022. He is the all-time leading wicket-taker in IPL history and the first bowler ever to cross 200 IPL wickets, achieving the milestone in 2024.
Which teams has Yuzvendra Chahal played for in IPL?
Chahal has played for four IPL franchises: Mumbai Indians (2011–2013, one match), Royal Challengers Bangalore (2014–2021), Rajasthan Royals (2022–2024), and Punjab Kings (2025–present). He is RCB’s all-time leading wicket-taker with 139 wickets — the only bowler to take 100-plus wickets for the franchise.
Has Yuzvendra Chahal won the IPL Purple Cap?
Yes — Chahal won the IPL Purple Cap in 2022 for Rajasthan Royals with 27 wickets in 17 matches. His haul included a hat-trick and his maiden 5-wicket haul (5/40) against Kolkata Knight Riders. The 27-wicket tally broke Imran Tahir’s record for most wickets by a leg-spinner in a single IPL season.
When did Chahal cross 200 IPL wickets?
Chahal crossed the 200-IPL-wicket mark in 2024 while playing for Rajasthan Royals, dismissing Nitish Rana at Eden Gardens to become the first bowler in IPL history to reach that milestone. He has since extended the record to 225 wickets and remains the only bowler to have crossed 200.
How much was Chahal bought for in the IPL 2025 auction?
Punjab Kings secured Yuzvendra Chahal for ₹18 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction after a bidding war involving Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Super Giants, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. The price made him the most expensive Indian spinner in IPL auction history. PBKS retained him at the same value for IPL 2026.
Bottom Line
Yuzvendra Chahal’s 225 IPL wickets is the most a leg-spinner has ever achieved in T20 cricket, and the gap between him and the next active bowler (Jasprit Bumrah at 186) remains nearly 40 wickets. The 13-season career has spanned four franchises, three IPL final losses, and a Purple Cap. IPL 2026 has been quiet — only 4 wickets in 11 games — but PBKS sit fourth in the points table and three games remain to potentially deliver his first IPL title at age 35. Even if it doesn’t come, the wicket record will stand alone for years. The closest active spinner is Sunil Narine at ~180, still 45 wickets away. Track Chahal’s playoff push on our IPL 2026 Purple Cap tracker and the all-time list at most wickets in IPL history.
