Yuzvendra Chahal shines with 6 wickets in County Championship

Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal recorded his first five-wicket haul in the ongoing English County Championship season, as his six-fer helped the hosts Northamptonshire to make a strong statement against the second-division side Derbyshire. 

Yuzvendra Chahal recorded 6 for 118 runs

After Derbyshire chose to bat first, they scored 377 all out on the early second day, while the hosts ended the day on 265/5. The 35-year-old Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was the standout bowler in the first innings of the match, as he finished with the bowling figures of 33.2-5-118-6. It was his fifth five-wicket haul in his first-class career.

While the no.7 batter Martin Andersson (105) scored a brilliant century in the first innings, Chahal took the wickets of opener Luis Reece (39), no.3 Harry Came (17), no.5 Brooke Guest (0), and the lower-order batters Zak Chappell (32), Ben Aitchison (45), and Blair Tickner (11). Chahal triggered a mid-batting-order collapse, as the visitors suddenly found themselves from 82/1 to 89/5. 

In the ongoing County Championship Division Two season, Chahal recorded a wicketless and a four-wicket haul against Kent, and later had another wicketless bowling figures against Middlesex.

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Yuzvendra Chahal was in great form last County season

In the previous County Championship Division Two season (2024), the Indian leggie Yuzvendra Chahal finished as the fourth leading wicket-taker for Northamptonshire by picking up 19 wickets in just four matches, including two five-wicket hauls and two more four-fers. While he had a bowling average of 21.10 in that season, it was the fourth-best bowling average among at least 15-wicket takers in that competition.

Although Chahal has played 72 ODIs and 80 T20Is, where the leggie picked up 121 and 96 wickets, respectively, India's second leading T20I wicket-taker, he hasn't played a Test match yet. He hasn't played an international match since August 2023. Although he was a member of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 title-winning team, he wasn't selected in any playing XI.