IPL 2024: Yuzvendra Chahal becomes first bowler to take 200 wickets

Rajasthan Royals spinner Yuzvendra Chahal became the first bowler in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to take 200 wickets. The leg spinner got to the landmark when he caught and bowled Mumbai Indians’ Mohammad Nabi at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday.

Chahal had overtaken former Chennai Super Kings bowler Dwayne Bravo last season when he went past Bravo’s 183 wickets. In the ongoing season, he has picked up 13 wickets so far and is the joint-leader of most wickets along with Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel.

Chahal came on to bowl in the eighth over of the Mumbai Indians innings and got to the landmark wicket with his third ball. He bowled a leg break to Nabi, and it took the leading edge of the bat, and the ball spooned back to the bowler.

He, however, couldn’t take more wickets as he ended his quota of four overs by giving away 48 runs in his 153rd IPL match.

Although the leg spinner was bought by the Mumbai Indians in 2011, he warmed the bench for two years. He made his IPL debut in 2013 against the Kolkata Knight Riders and played his second IPL match only in 2014 after being bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru).

He had an impressive career with RCB, where he picked up 139 wickets in 113 matches in eight years. He had an impressive average of 22.03 and an economy rate of 7.5. Till date, he is the highest wicket taker for the Faf du Plessis-led franchise.

In the IPL 2022 mega auction, Chahal was bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 6.5 crore, and he has taken 27 wickets for the franchise. His best bowling figures are 5/40 against KKR last season, where he took a hat-trick too.