Veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is showing off his Test cricket skills on England soil as Team India remains in the spotlight amid the ongoing first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai. Chahal, who is yet to make his Test debut, produced back-to-back remarkable performances for Northamptonshire in the County Championship.
On the back of his fifer, Northamptonshire registered a stunning nine-wicket win over Leicestershire on Thursday (September 19) in Northampton. Chahal grabbed four wickets in the first innings and helped his side restrict their opponents to 203 runs.
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He followed it up with a five-wicket haul, this time restricting Leicestershire to 316 runs. Chahal achieved the feat by dismissing Scott Currie, who top-scored for Leicestershire with 120 runs. The 34-year-old was seen basking in the joy as his teammates approached him to celebrate the moment.
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100 | Five for Yuzi Chahal! 5️⃣
— Northamptonshire CCC (@NorthantsCCC) September 19, 2024
Scott Currie's magnificent innings ends on 120 as he feathers behind to McManus.
Leicestershire 303/9, leading by 123.
Watch live 👉 https://t.co/CU8uwteMyd pic.twitter.com/OM8MMYY0O3
Chahal stuns with successive nine-wicket hauls
Chahal finished with the figures of 216/9. His impressive performance helped Northamptonshire as they needed to chase down just 137 runs. Luke Proctor and George Bartlett did that with ease as they scored half-centuries to lead the team to a nine-wicket victory.
Notably, this was Chahal’s second consecutive five-wicket haul. He displayed similar heroics in Northamptonshire’s previous match against Derbyshire. The Haryana cricketer grabbed five wickets for 45 runs in the first innings and followed it up with a four-wicket haul by conceding 54 runs in Northamptonshire’s 133-run victory.
Despite being one of the finest leg-spinners in limited-overs cricket, Chahal has always been overlooked by the national team selectors, especially during the major tournaments. He has played 72 ODIs and 80 T20Is, picking up 121 and 96 wickets respectively.
However, he has yet to make his debut in the longer format of the game. India is currently locking horns with Bangladesh in Chennai in the two-match Test series. Although Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal’s competitor, has been included in the squad, he is not part of the playing XI for the first match.