Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal has been in the news recently due to speculation about his personal life. From Yuzi’s widely discussed divorce from his ex-wife Dhanashree Verma to link-up rumours with RJ Mahvash, the spinner has often grabbed headlines for off-field reasons. Now, fresh speculation about his real-life romance has once again put him in the spotlight.

A video showing Yuzvendra Chahal with former Bigg Boss 13 contestant Shefali Bagga in Mumbai has gone viral on social media. The clip, shared by fan pages and various online platforms, shows the two leaving a dinner venue, which quickly sparked online discussions. Their public appearance came at a time when there is already strong interest in Chahal’s personal relationships.

Chahal and Bagga were seen leaving separately after dinner. Chahal wore a black shirt with blue jeans, while Bagga was dressed in a black outfit. Neither of them made any public statement about the meeting, and both stayed silent on social media. However, the visuals from the evening were enough to fuel speculation. Several fan pages claimed the two were spotted together after dinner, with short videos and photos circulating widely and keeping social media buzzing.

Watch the video here: 

🚨Yuzvendra Chahal giving tough competition to Hardik Pandya 💀

Yuzvendra Chahal dating Shefali Bagga after unfollowing RJ Mahvash?

Bro changes dating partners like cars — Chahal is becoming a real playboy cricketer 😬🔥

The two were spotted together after a dinner outing, and… pic.twitter.com/V3ArVwPwOf

— Sonu (@Cricket_live247) January 25, 2026

Also read -

Chahal–RJ Mahvash Link-Up Rumours Resurface

This sighting comes amid recent developments involving Yuzvendra Chahal and RJ Mahvash, a radio presenter who was earlier linked with the cricketer after his divorce from choreographer Dhanashree Verma in 2025. Social media users recently noticed that Chahal and Mahvash no longer follow each other on Instagram, a small but noticeable detail that has once again fuelled dating rumours that first surfaced last year.

What Happened Between Chahal and Mahvash?

Chahal and Mahvash were often seen together at public events and shared supportive posts for each other on social media. However, both repeatedly denied being in a romantic relationship. Addressing the rumours on a podcast, Chahal had said, “No, there’s nothing like that. People can think whatever they want.”

Unfollow Drama Sparks Fresh Speculation

Despite these clear denials, interest in Chahal’s personal life has not slowed down. Reports of the two unfollowing each other on Instagram went viral and triggered fresh speculation among fans and media. Last week, paparazzo Varinder Chawla also shared a post claiming that Chahal and Mahvash had unfollowed each other, hinting at a possible breakup.

Adding to the buzz, RJ Mahvash recently shared a cryptic Instagram story that read, “90% of the time, you will see me fixing my hair. Rest of the time – fixing my life. (sic)” The post further intensified online discussions around the cricketer’s personal life.

Punjab Kings have signed Australian all-rounder Cooper Connolly for the cost of INR 3 crore in the IPL 2026 mini-auction, and the storyline was established almost immediately. Glenn Maxwell had already been released by the team and had also chosen to opt out of the auction, but Connolly was expected to be the same and create an impact for PBKS.

In a recent interaction with Indian media, Connolly was asked directly about the Maxwell comparisons. He responded with honesty and respect, saying, “Yeah, I think the comparisons to Maxie, I’ll take it. But he is a world-class player. I’m a long way from being as good as him.” The statement reflected humility rather than pressure, with Connolly acknowledging the scale of expectations while keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

Connolly did not shy away from the discussion, but he also made it clear he is not arriving with the idea of being a ready-made replacement. Instead, his focus remains on contributing in his own way and fitting into the team’s plans rather than trying to mirror someone else’s role or reputation.

Connolly Clear on His PBKS Role and Season Goals

While accepting the comparisons as a compliment, Connolly was quick to underline what truly matters to him. “But no, I think the only thing that I’m just looking forward to is playing some positive cricket and looking to win games for Punjab,” he said. The emphasis stayed on team success rather than individual headlines.

Explaining his motivation behind joining Punjab Kings, Connolly pointed to unfinished business from last season. “But yeah, it’s going to be an exciting group. And obviously, last year, they didn’t quite win the whole thing.” For him, the move is about helping the team go one step further.

Connolly ended on a note of quiet optimism, adding, “But I think this year looks promising. And yeah, I think I’m just looking forward to getting over to the group and, I guess, pursuing for tha trophy. But, yeah its going to be a good season.” For Punjab, the takeaway is simple—Connolly is not promising to be Maxwell 2.0, but he is promising intent, positive cricket, and a genuine push for the IPL 2026 title.

The countdown has started for the IPL 2026 auction, which is scheduled to take place on December 16 in Abu Dhabi. It is a one-day event that will start at 1pm local time (2.30pm IST). For the high-voltage event, Shreyas Iyer arrived in Dubai to represent Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the auction.

The franchise has shared a specially edited video to capture the arrival of their 'Sarpanch' in style. The video is full of swagger. To add some feel, the video has the recent viral soundtrack from Akshaye Khanna's latest movie, 'Dhurandhar'. With the essence from the movie and the soundtrack, the video shared by PBKS attracted a lot of attention from netizens without wasting any time. Through the video we can see Iyer stepped out of a black BMW.

He is all set to represent in the PBKS auction pavilion. It was reported before that their head coach Ricky Ponting is uncertain for the auction, so Iyer will take his place at the table, which will be a big moment for the cricketer as it shows how much the franchise trusts their skipper. After an impressive season, PBKS retained most of their previous players. From the auction, they can rope in 4, including 2 overseas players, with a purse of INR 11.50 crore.

Read More: IND vs SA 3rd T20I: India vs South Africa highlights and key performances

Watch Shreyas Iyer's entry here

CAPTAIN SHREYAS IYER IS READY FOR THE IPL AUCTION...!!!! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/mpwy7Rl3LS

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 15, 2025

PBKS retained players list for the IPL 2026 season:

Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Marco Jansen, and Lockie Ferguson.

Purse remaining: INR 11.50 crore out of INR 125 crore

Slots remaining: 4 (2 overseas)

Ahead of the upcoming auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026 Auction), an all-rounder from Australia expresses his desire to play for Punjab Kings (PBKS). In an interview, the all-rounder directly said that he wishes to play for PBKS, the runner-up of the previous IPL season, IPL 2025.

Punjab Kings had a promising campaign in the last season. Under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, they reached the final of the league. There, they lost agains Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and concluded the season as the second best team. In IPL 2026, there will be high hopes around the franchise.

Nikhil Chaudhary, Delhi-born and now an Australian cricketer, has the desire to play for PBKS. The 29-year-old is known for his spin bowling and hard-hitting abilities as a lower-end batter. Ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, there are some videos of Chaudhary that have been surfacing on social media platforms, depicting his skills as a limited-over cricketer.

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Australian all-rounder wishes to play of Punjab Kings in IPL

Australian Cricketer Nikhil Chaudhary wants to play for Punjab Kings in IPL.🚨

pic.twitter.com/PVIDbw9Bx9

— JATT TORONTO ALA (@GoraJatt_) December 10, 2025

The allrounder has been in great form in Australian domestic cricket. For Tasmania, Nikhil scored 163 runs during a Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales and was named the best player of the game. Before that, against Victoria, he registered 38 & 25 runs in the first and second innings, respectively. On December 5, during the Tasmania vs South Australia match, Chaudhary got 42 runs in the second innings.

The Delhi-born has a strong connection with Punjab, as they played for the state. In the Punjabi language, he said, "Hopefully, in the future, I'll play for Punjab in the IPL."

Punjab Kings (PBKS) made some intersting decision by retaining multiple uncapped Indain cricketers while they decided to let go Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, and Pravin Dubey. Ahead of IPL 2026, one of the uncapped Indian players of PBKS bowled brilliantly on the first day of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT 2025). 

Punjab Kings star Yash Thakur took 3 crucial wickets for Vidarbha cricket team against Chhattisgarh at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow. Thakur claimed three wickets in 4 overs, against 25 runs, which secured his economy rate at 6.25. Chhattisgarh, batting first, was able to score only 133 runs in 20 overs for 9 wickets. 

The target was achievable on paper, but the bowlers of Chhattisgarh were too good to protect their total. Vidarbha was going behind the target well until Shashank Singh, another PBKS star, was on the crease. His dismissal proved fatal for the second batting team. Vidarbha bundled for only 106 runs in 19.1 overs. 

Read More: Who is the RCB pacer who took 2 wickets on the opening day of SMAT 2025?

PBKS talent yash Thakur got 3 wickets in SMAT 2025 match

Despite the result, the brilliant bowling performance by Yash Thakur should not be diminished. In IPL 2025, he played only a couple of matches for the runners-up of IPL 2025. In those 2 matches, the pacer got a wicket as well. But his economy rate was on the higher side. Still, the manager showed trust in the emerging talent. 

PBKS retained players list: 

Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Marco Jansen, and Lockie Ferguson.

The IPL 2026 retention window saw a range of surprising exits in recent seasons, with the celebrated Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the forefront of the story, notably after parting ways with the Australian star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and England wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis. Fans and analysts were surprised by this decision from PBKS, especially given that they had also been spotted retaining at least one of the two proven match-winners. PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting has now offered a clear rationale behind the move, claiming that Inglis’ poor availability and Maxwell's diminishing form contributed to the decision to part ways with them.

Ponting said, while Josh Inglis is a talented and versatile wicketkeeper-batter, his international commitments meant he would be unavailable for much of the IPL. Following an international tour, a team in need of stability and continuity cannot increase its reliance on a player who is not available for most fixtures, as Ponting pointed out. He also mentioned he would like to have Inglis as part of the squad, but the team had to make a tough decision due to concerns about him being available.

The decision to release Glenn Maxwell was based on his actual performance; he struggled in IPL 2025, scoring only 48 runs and taking 4 wickets in seven matches, and therefore didn't play with the effectiveness we know he can. In fact, Ponting said that PBKS "couldn’t get the best out of him" last season, and as they plan for IPL 2026, they didn’t see him as part of their starting XI. Given that the franchise wanted to build a tougher and balanced outfit, it didn't make sense to sign Maxwell at the price PBKS signed him for. After finishing as runners-up in 2025, PBKS has now retained 21 players, going into the mini-auction, we went in with 4 slots empty, with 2 for overseas players.

See Also: Watch: Ravindra Jadeja's double-wicket over rocks back South Africa during IND vs SA 1st Test

Ponting’s Vision in the Punjab Kings’ Rebuild

Ponting’s comments reinforce PBKS’ change in philosophy to want to build a squad that’s more focused on consistency and availability. With Shreyas Iyer continuing as captain, it’s their hope that by plugging up any holes, they will also be able to find players who can show up through the season without missing time for any reason.

Leading into the December 16 mini-auction, PBKS is expected to target players who provide a multi-utility (form and reliability) with their international contingent playing a large part in the overhaul plan heading into IPL 2026.

IPL 2025 runner-up Punjab Kings (PBKS) are likely to make some changes for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. They could aim to strengthen their spin bowling department for the IPL 2026 campaign.

It is reported that the team management has shortlisted multiple Australian spinners, for whom they can put up the paddle during the mini auction. In the previous season, PBKS was mostly dependent on Yuzvendra Chahal for quality spin bowling. Apart from Chahal, Harpreet Brar and Afghanistan international Azmatullah Omarzai also played crucial roles.

Though Omarzai proved expensive. In 9 matches, the spin bowling all-rounder claimed 8 wickets at an economy rate of 10.33. Chahal began his IPL 2025 campaign in an unconventional manner but quickly bounced back. The experienced spinner took 16 wickets in 14 IPL 2025 games. But Harpreet Brar emerged as a surprising element. He got some scalps when the team needed those on immediate effect. He put 10 wickets in 8 matches at an economy rate of 8.64. As there is always some to make some improvements, PBKS is expected to cash in for some players during the auction.

Read More: Rohit Sharma to play Ranji Trophy 2025? Recent photos put cricket fans in spilt

Punjab Kings can target these players for IPL 2026 season

Unlike going for any star player, the franchise can rely on underrated talents, which they did in IPL 2025. According to reports, Tanveer Sangha, Mattew Kuhnemann, and Cooper Connolly are on the wishlist of PBKS. It is also reported that the management can release Pravin Dubey and Aaron Hardie ahead of IPL 2026. It will not be surprising to see Hardie out of the squad in the near future.

Hardie was not played by PBKS because he initially was not available for the start of the season due to international commitments and a shoulder injury. He became available for selection later, but he did not get any chance to perform on the field for PBKS. The team management acquired the service of the all-rounder for INR 1.25 Crore. 

After appointing veteran cricketer Sairaj Bahutule as the new spin bowling coach, Punjab Kings (PBKS) has made another significant signing ahead of the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). This signing will make their coaching team stronger on paper. 

On Friday (October 24) afternoon, through their social media account, PBKS officially announced the signing of Anand Date as their strength and conditioning coach. He will be working with head coach Ricky Ponting, assistant coach Brad Haddin, and other coaching staff of the setup. 

Who is Anand Date? 

Anand Date is a well-known strength and conditioning coach in Indian domestic cricket. In January 2017 he was appointed as the strength & conditioning trainer for the Indian senior men’s cricket team for the series versus England and Bangladesh. He worked within camps of the National Cricket Academy and BCCI-organized training camps. Anand cemented his reputation for developing and overseeing fitness, sports science, conditioning, injury prevention, etc. for the players. 

Read More: Andrew Flintoff admits crossing the line with Yuvraj Singh during 2007 T20 World Cup; India legend’s response goes viral

Appointing Anand Date is a significant move by Punjab Kings, the runner-up of IPL 2025, as their squad is full of young and exciting talents. Anand has the experience of working with emerging cricketers, which can be fruitful with PBKS as well. In the previous IPL season, the strength and conditioning coach for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) was Adrian Le Roux, who left the team in June 2025 to become the new strength and conditioning coach for the Indian men's cricket team. He had a six-year tenure with PBKS. Anand will join the team in place of Adrian. 

The engine room just got stronger. ⚡

Welcome aboard, Anand Date ➡️ Our strength and conditioning coach! 💪 pic.twitter.com/8e3NUHkidG

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) October 24, 2025

Punjab Kings coaching staff for IPL 2026:

Head Coach: Ricky Ponting

Assistant Coach: Brad Haddin

Fast Bowling Coach: James Hopes

Spin Bowling Coach: Sairaj Bahutule

Assistant Bowling Coach: Trevor Gonsalves 

Our strength and conditioning coach: Anand Date

It was a heart-wrenching result for Punjab Kings (PBKS). It was only their second Indian Premier League (IPL) final, and they were riding high on confidence because of their dominating performances in the group stage of IPL 2025. But it was Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) who won the final by only 6 runs and took the trophy away right in front of Punjab Kings. After the grand finale, when RCB was under all the spotlights and glittering in joy, the PBKS dressing room was behind a curtain of grief. During a recent conversation, PBKS star Shashank Singh described the dressing room atmosphere after the summit clash. He said that their players were crying; he saw tears in the owner's eyes. 

"There were players in the dressing room. They were crying. Our owners were feeling bad. They were very disappointed. I saw their tears. It's different from the media, the fans, and the camera. It's a personal loss. You can't just say, "We lost." It takes a lot of time. I still remember, we had a match in the state league the next day. I thought it would get better. But I couldn't get over the final loss," he said. 

Shashank emerged as the last hope for the Shreyas Iyer-led team on the night of June 3, 2025. He remained unbeaten, scoring 61 off 30 with 3 boundaries and 6 over boundaries. He even hit 22 runs off the last four balls against Josh Hazlewood. But that solo effort with the bat proved not enough to outshine RCB. 

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"...that loss, everyone was hurt. I saw their tears. It took some time, but I think we still believe, and we know now that next year we'll turn around the tables. We'll make sure that those moments are ours," he added. 

Shashank Singh said how PBKS coach and captain used to back their boys

The batter revealed how their head coach, Ricky Ponting, and captain, Shreyas Iyer, backed all of the players. They tried to pull out their best by not putting extra pressure but by showing trust in the players. 

"When we went to the IPL, my practice matches were not that special. But the way Ricky Sir and Shreyas Iyer backed me, they told me, "You're our match winner; we're not going to judge you with two IPL matches." It's just that you go and play with your freedom," Shashank informed. 

According to the 2025 year-over-year brand value update of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises conducted by Houlihan Lokey, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) surged into the position of the most valued IPL franchise, overtaking incumbent champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). RCB had an 18.5% increase from 2024's brand value of $227 million to 2025's brand value of $269 million.

The brand value web rtlto played a part in RCB's historic first IPL title in 2023, which capped a 17-year title drought for the franchise and erased the curse of being the only team to have never won the title. Leveraging its massive fan base and Virat Kohli's legacy, the franchise has been able to turn its historical stature into unprecedented commercial opportunism.

RCB Lead Brand Value Charts, PBKS Post Record Growth

Mumbai Indians continue to sit at number two, worth $242l million in brand value, a growth of 18.6%. Worst, Chennai Super Kings, the five-time winners and gold-nibbler of all time, slipped to number three because they could only manage a meager 1.7% increase. Both Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and Delhi Capitals (DC) showed good health with double-digit growth, increasing their valuation.

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The big shock came by way of Punjab Kings (PBKS). PBKS showed the most overall increase of any team. From $101 million in 2024 to $141 million in 2025 is a stunning 39.6% hike. Conversely, Worth $122 million in 2024, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are also now the least valuable franchise in recent history, and we believe they didn't fare as well, even with a respectable growth percentage of 34.1%.

What does this tell us about the nature of the IPL's finances? It reveals an ecosystem that is constantly evolving. Genuine on-field success paired with the smart, off-field marketing angles remains key to each franchise's overall commercial strength. With RCB finally hoisting the odd silverware, their position atop the valuation graphs feels justified, because they truly found out that having loyal fans and winning can, in fact, translate into brand power.

IPL Team Brand Values 2025 (Houlihan Lokey Report)