Chahal's Spin Masterclass Halts Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026 Opener

Chahal was one of the standout performers with the ball, returning figures of 2-28 in his four overs and providing crucial breakthroughs at a key stage of the innings. His most important wicket came in the 10th over when he dismissed captain Shubman Gill, who was looking set after a steady start. The dismissal helped Punjab regain control after a strong power play from Gujarat.

Reflecting on his approach, Chahal explained how he assessed the conditions early and adapted accordingly.

"Definitely, in the evening when I saw the wicket, I thought it'd be dry. And when the fast bowlers start bowling cutters, I like a little bit of grip. You need to beat the batters in the flight here. I varied my pace and line, starting with some wide deliveries and then moving to the stumps line. Then I took a chance to get Shubman and put them under pressure," he said.

The leg-spinner also underlined the importance of the powerplay phase, noting how scoring becomes more difficult as the innings progresses. "Power-play is very important, it's easy to score runs with the new ball and hitting becomes harder as the ball gets old," he added.

Gujarat Titans had got off to a brisk start through Gill and Sai Sudharsan, scoring freely in the early overs. However, Punjab Kings fought back strongly in the middle phase, with Chahal playing a key role in slowing the scoring rate and building pressure.

With this performance, Chahal further strengthened his record as the most successful bowler in the middle overs (7-15) in IPL history. He now has 138 wickets in this phase at an average of 25.34, ahead of Ravindra Jadeja (136), Piyush Chawla (132), Amit Mishra (126), and Rashid Khan (102).

- IANS