Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lavished huge praise on Punjab Kings (PBKS) leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal after he dismissed Gujarat Titans’ Jos Buttler in the fourth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. Butler, who has not been in the best of form in recent times, played a rather subdued innings where he batted at a strike rate of 115.15 for his 33-ball 38 before getting dismissed by Chahal. The wicket came at the right time for the hosts as the former England opener was eyeing to cut loose, and his wicket pegged GT further, eventually getting restricted to 162 for 6 at the end of their quota of 20 overs.
What Makes Chahal Different From Allah Ghazanfar and Mayank Markhande?
“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,” the former India spinner wrote on X.
Chahal Reveals His Bowling Plan That Worked For PBKS
Chahal, who has lost his place in the national team, played a crucial role in tightening the stranglehold on the Gujarat Titans, and returned with impressive figures of 2 for 28. Talking about his spell in the mid-innings break, the leg-spinner said that on a surface that looked dry from the onset, it becomes important to beat the batter in flight, and vary his pace in an attempt to deceive the batter. Goes without saying that he succeeded in doing exactly that on more than one occasion in the match.
“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,” Chahal said.
Punjab Kings went on to win the match by six wickets, with five balls to spare. Prabhsimran Singh and Cooper Connolly added 76 runs for the second wicket to put the hosts in the driver’s seat before Rashid Khan sent the PBKS opener packing. Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, and Marco Jansen went in quick succession, leaving PBKS in a spot of bother, but Cooper Connolly ensured that Punjab got off to a winning start by playing a brilliant, unbeaten 44-ball 72-run knock to see the hosts home.
