In a historic Indian Premier League (IPL) moment on Monday, Rajasthan Royals' leg-spinner
Yuzvendra Chahal
etched his name in the annals of cricketing history by becoming the first bowler to achieve the remarkable feat of claiming 200 wickets in the IPL.
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The 33-year-old Chahal reached the significant milestone during Rajasthan's match against the Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Chahal wasted no time, dismissing Mohammad Nabi on just the third ball of his opening over, to create history. He ended up with figures of 1 for 48 in four overs.
Debuting in the IPL in 2013, Chahal reached this milestone in his 153rd appearance. Notably, he holds the title of the highest wicket-taker in the tournament's history and currently shares the top spot for most wickets in the ongoing IPL season, having scalped 13 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel also have 13 wickets to their name.
Sending a cheeky congratulatory message to Chahal via a video, fellow veteran leg-spinner
Amit Mishra
, who is in the Lucknow Super Giants squad, said: "Hi Yuzi, bahut khush hu aapki 200 wickets ke liye. Mere ko peechhe chhor diya hai kyuki mai khel nahi raha hu, isliye tu aage bad gaya hai. Aur mai yehi wish kar raha hu ke ek achha helathy competition rahe. I am waiting for my chance to beat your again. Chalo dekhte hain aage chal ke kya hota hai. But I am really happy for you. Keep it going. All the very best."
(Translated to English: "I am very happy for your 200 wickets. You left me behind because I am not playing. That's why you have gone ahead, and I wish that a healthy competition remains...let's see what happens going forward").
LSG shared the video message on social media.
Interestingly, the list of top five wicket-takers in the IPL includes three leg-spinners.
With 173 wickets in the IPL, Mishra occupies the fifth position in the list headed by Chahal. At number two is Dwayne Bravo with 183 wickets, followed by another leg-spinner Piyush Chawla at number three with 182 wickets and veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar at number four with 174 wickets.
Prior to Chahal, only two other bowlers had achieved the feat of 200 wickets in a T20 competition -- Danny Briggs (219) and Samit Patel (208), both in England's T20 Blast.
Of Chahal's impressive tally of 200
IPL wickets
, 139 were secured during his tenure with the Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2014 to 2021.
Having joined the Rajasthan Royals in 2022, the 33-year-old spinner has continued his stellar performance, adding 61 wickets to his tally for the franchise thus far.
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