Yuzvendra Chahal

The mind of a chess player and the skill of a leg spinner - That's a dangerous combination that Yuzvendra Chahal possesses. Before taking cricket as the full-time profession, Chahal used to represent India internationally in chess at youth levels.

The spinner came into the limelight in the National Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy of 2009, where he dismissed one batsman after the other with his leg-break spin. Chahal finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker (34 wickets) and also ended up scoring 300 runs with the bat. He was picked up by the Mumbai as they signed him for the fourth edition of the IPL in 2011. Chahal’s only light of fame came in an epic low-scoring encounter against Trinidad where he scored the dramatic last couple of runs. In 2014, his services were bought by the Bangalore franchise.

Chahal's fortunes started to change after that as he established himself as the most successful bowler for Bangalore in the Indian T20 League. Soon he was called up to represent the national team in ODIs and T20Is on a tour of Zimbabwe in 2016. The bowling spell that cemented his place in the team came against England in a T20I match in Bengaluru where he took a 6-wicket haul, a feat only achieved by Ajantha Mendis (twice) then. 

The leggie prospered in his career and formed a very strong alliance with Kuldeep Yadav. Together the pair got fondly referred as 'KulCha' and the batsmen found them too hot to handle. With the wrist spinners proving to be a handful in the shorter formats, Chahal registered his name right on top of the list and continued be one of the favourite options for the Indian team.