In just 4 overs, Yuzvendra Chahal defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by taking 4 wickets for 17 runs. He achieved an important historical milestone in the process.
Yuzvendra Chahal, one of the best spinners of his age, doesn’t always receive the credit he merits for his accomplishments in white-ball cricket. Chahal achieved a milestone that no other Indian has to date as Rajasthan Royals thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 72 runs in their opening Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 encounter on Sunday. Chahal went on to take his 300th T20 wicket in the encounter against the Sunrisers, giving him a significant advantage over Ravichandran Ashwin in second place.
With the elimination of Harry Brook in the game, Chahal claimed his 300th T20 victory. After that, the seasoned spinner added three more dismissals, including those of Mayank Agarwal, Adil Rashid, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to finish the game with a 4 for 17 total.
Most catches for an Indian in T20 cricket:
- Yuzvendra Chahal – 303
- Ravichandran Ashwin 287
- Piyush Chawla 276
- Amit Mishra 272
- Jasprit Bumrah 256
Not just that, Chahal also went past Amit Mishra in the list of bowlers with the most number of IPL wickets. Chahal now has 170 scalps to his name in the T20 league that puts him joint-second with Lasith Malinga. Only Dwayne Bravo (183) is ahead of him.
“Undoubtedly the perfect beginning. We were aware that a large score would never be easy to achieve due to the manner Jos and Jaiswal batted. Tossing it up is my strength, so the idea was to bowl from stump to stump. Regarding my bowling opponent, I don’t give a damn. When I get a five-wicket haul, you’ll most certainly see a huge celebration, he promised.
The three players who scored fifty runs in the game—Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sanju Samson—were the champions from the previous year, who scored 203 runs against Hyderabad. The Sunrisers struggled to get going in their attempt to chase down the challenging mark, losing five wickets for just 48 runs. Despite trying to battle, Mayank Agarwal was out for 27 runs.
Abdul Samad (32) and Umran Malik (19) put on an unbroken partnership of 36 runs for the ninth wicket to keep Hyderabad from being bowled out.
After the game, Chahal acknowledged that he was pleased with the way the Royals’ season had started.
