Despite not having a good outing with the ball, Yuzvendra Chahal stepped on a massive milestone in Rajasthan Royals' (RR) match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday (April 5). Sanju Samson's brigade lost the match by five runs but Chahal towered above by shattering legendary Lasith Malinga's record to become the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) leg-spinner overtook Lasith Malinga to become the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament's history.
Chahal, who was the Purple Cap holder in the previous edition of the glitzy league, started his IPL 2023's campaign with a bang as he snared a brilliant four-fer against Sunrisers Hyderabad to help his side win the match. But he failed to catch up with his performance in the following match against PBKS in which he conceded 50 runs in his four-over spell and snared just one wicket. He dismissed Jitesh Sharma who scored 27 off 16 and thus he went past Malinga's record and became only the second bowler in the history of IPL to take most wickets. Malinga picked up 170 wickets in 122 IPL matches featuring for Mumbai Indians (MI) in his illustrious regime.
The ace Indian spinner has clocked 171 wickets so far in 133 IPL matches and is hot on heels with former Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo who is leading the chart. Bravo, who is now the bowling coach of four-time champions CSK, snared 183 wickets in a total of 161 matches featuring for the Yellow Army and Paltans.
In his opening match against SRH, Chahal scripted history by grabbing four wickets as he became the first Indian bowler to snare 300-plus scapls in T20 cricket. Riding on this massive milestone he shattered Amit Mishra's record of being the highest wicket-taker among Indians in IPL history. Mishra, who is now 40 years old and part of the Lucknow Super Giants set-up in the IPL this year, had previously accounted for the dismissal of 166 batters in 154 games. However, with more matches to come, Mishra still has a chance to surpass Malinga's tally and move up in the table.
Talking about the match, batting first, Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh's half-centuries guided the PBKS to a big total of 197/8. In reply, RR kept up the fight till the last over with Dhurv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer indulging in some big hits. However, ultimately RR fell short by five runs. Another reason being RR's slow at the start was PBKS' new recruit Nathan Ellis dealing regular blows. The Australian pacer took four crucial wickets of Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal and Riyan Parag.
ALSO READ:
Watch: Fielder Jos Buttler takes a stunning catch but Rajasthan Royals fret over his availability moving forward
IRE vs BAN: Lorcan Tucker becomes first Irish batter to achieve this massive milestone during one-off Test vs Bangladesh
