IPL 2023: Yuzvendra Chahal becomes first Indian in T20 history to achieve sensational wicket-taking record

Team India’s star spinner Yuzvendra Chahal etched his name in history as he became the first Indian to take 300 wickets in T20s. Chahal reached the feat during Rajasthan Royals’ opening match of the 2023 Indian Premier League against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday afternoon.

Chahal dismissed SRH batter Harry Brook to reach the feat; of his 300 wickets, 91 have come in international cricket.

Chahal bowled a quicker and flatter delivery to Brook, and the England star, expecting the ball to turn, attempts to cut it square. However, the ball skids instead, and hits the off-stump.

This was also Chahal’s first wicket in the 2023 edition of the IPL. Here’s the list of highest Indian wicket-takers in the shortest format of the game:

Yuzvendra Chahal 301*

Ravichandran Ashwin 287

Piyush Chawla 276

Amit Mishra 272

Jasprit Bumrah 256

Earlier, last year’s runners-up Rajasthan Royals made a rollicking start to the IPL, amassing 203 for five against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Jos Buttler (54), Yashasvi Jaiswal (54) and Sanju Samson (55) slammed aggressive half-centuries as Rajasthan Royals ripped apart the Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led SRH in their own backyard to pile up season’s highest total yet.

In the process, they also became the first team to breach the 200-run mark this season. One of the consistent performers in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals over last few years, Buttler made a sensational start to the season stroking his way to a 22-ball 54 with seven fours and three sixes until his assault was ended by SRH debutant Fazalhaq Farooqi.

In the run-chase, the RR bowlers ran through a hapless SRH batting order, as the side lost two wickets in the first over of the innings against Trent Boult. Boult castled Abhishek Sharma off the third ball of the innings, and then removed Rahul Tripathi to bowl a double wicket-maiden. By the end of the powerplay, SRH could only reach 30/2.