Chahal is the latest in the series of Indian cricketers in the fringes of the national side to grab hold of the chance offered to him against England. Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav & Parthiv Patel did it in the Test series, Kedar in the ODIs and now it’s the leg-spinner from Haryana.

Where Did It All Start For Chahal?

Growing up, Chahal excelled at both chess and cricket. He has represented the country in the Asian as well as world youth championships in chess, still has a profile page on the FIDE website and credits his knowledge of chess for his success in cricket.

“Chess helps me in plotting the opposition batsman’s dismissal. I try to be one step ahead of the batsman, especially in T20 where the bowler has to think on his feet,” he told the Times of India in an interview last year.

Just like Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, Chahal made a name for himself at the Under-19 level in Cooch Behar Trophy — he was the leading wicket-taker in the 2008-09 season with 34 wickets.

His First Class Journey

It has not always been smooth sailing for the 26-year-old Chahal, with opportunities — even at the first class level — few and far between. In eight years since he made his debut for Haryana in the 2009-10 season, Chahal has managed to play just 27 first class matches. Seven of them came in this year’s Ranji Trophy. The reason? He was behind Amit Mishra in the pecking order all the while. The same Amit Mishra who has been playing sidekick to India’s main spinners for as long as one can remember, had a sidekick of his own at the state level. The emergence of Jayant as a promising all-rounder did not help Chahal’s cause as well.

The IPL Journey – Where It All Began To Click

It won’t be an understatement to say Chahal is where he is today solely because of the IPL. In the three seasons that he has been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad, Chahal made a name for himself as a wicket-taking leg spinner with the white ball. Under Kohli’s captaincy and Daniel Vettori’s coaching, he broke out of the shadows of first class cricket and emerged as one of the biggest success stories of India’s premier T20 tournament. 

His numbers in the IPL speak for themselves. He was the leading wicket-taker for Kohli’s side in the last two seasons. He finished just two wickets behind the purple-cap winner Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the eighth edition last year, with 21 wickets at an average of  19 and strike rate of 14. In the 2015 season, he was only behind the two most successful bowlers in IPL history — Dwayne Bravo and Lasith Malinga. And perhaps the most telling statistic of all, his overall strike rate of 16.60 in the three seasons with RCB puts him third on the list of bowlers with the best IPL strike rate (minimum 30 matches) — once again, behind only Bravo and Malinga.

That’s the quality that has made Chahal an invaluable asset to Kohli, first with RCB and now with India — the ability to pick wickets regularly. The numbers must be put into perspective too, what with RCB playing half their matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, a ground long established as a graveyard for bowlers. 

Chahal has not failed to mention the importance the IPL has played in his career so far. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo a few months back he spoke about how bowling in the nets to Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson and of course Kohli, has helped him:

“Often when you plan what to bowl to them and when they aren’t able to hit you then you know this length is right. They would keep telling me if I had to shorten my length or flight the ball more or less. Whenever I bowled to Gayle I would bowl well wide outside off, and work out that if he isn’t able to hit me then I can try this against Warner and the likes.”

The Biggest Day In His Career

And it was only fitting that the biggest day of his career came in front of his ‘home’ crowd in Bengaluru. What was also ironic was that five of Chahal’s six wickets came in his last two overs which were bowled immediately after Mishra finished his spell on Wednesday. His senior partner from Haryana choked the English batsmen, going for just 23 runs in four overs, even when the English batsmen where swinging at will. Mishra built up the pressure and Chahal reaped the rewards.

And, as has been the case in cricket’s rich history, a leg-spinner always thrives under an attacking captain, and Kohli is as aggressive as they come. Something that is not lost on Chahal.

“Virat [Kohli] bhaiyya would support me a lot on the field. It wasn’t like he would get flustered when you are hit for a six; the way he saw it was if the ball went for a six it went off a good ball with the batsmen playing a good shot.”

Kohli too knows how to get the best out of Chahal:

“We have lot of spinners available in middle overs, who are wicket-taking bowlers – who are not just run-containing bowlers. That is why I would back someone like Chahal, and that is why in IPL, I play him in most of the games. He never says no to bowl at any situation and that is why he ends up taking more wickets,” Kohli said.

What next for Chahal?

What this means for Chahal’s India career remains to be seen. He only has to look at Mishra’s career to know one man-of-the-series performance doesn’t guarantee a place in the squad. Mishra, after all, was the player of the series against New Zealand in the ODIs but found himself on the bench for the ODIs against England. 

But having played sidekick to the sidekick for most of his career, Chahal has now carved a name for himself in India colours. All he can now do is hope to keep up his performances in the domestic season and trust Kohli to give him the chances.