Yuzvendra Chahal retirement: Team India’s star leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has announced his retirement from first class cricket. This decision of Chahal will be implemented with immediate effect. However, he has made it clear that he will continue to play white-ball cricket.
36-year-old Chahal played his last red-ball match for Northamptonshire at Lord’s. Now he has decided to say goodbye to first class cricket.
This means that the red-ball journey in Chahal’s cricket career is now over, but he will be seen playing in white-ball cricket in future too. Chahal gave information about his retirement by posting on social media.
in first class cricket Yuzvendra Chahal Took 148 wickets in 79 innings of 49 matches. He gave 4,777 runs in 9,154 balls and his bowling average was 32.27, economy 3.13 and strike rate 61.8. Chahal has achieved the feat of taking five wickets 6 times and four wickets 8 times in first class. His best performance was 6/44 and best in the match was 9/99.
Chahal has clearly written in his post that His journey with red-ball cricket is over, but he is not retiring from ODI and T20 cricket yet. He says that the hunger to play for the country is still there and he will try his best to get a chance to make a comeback in both these formats.
What did Chahal write in his first class cricket retirement post?
“The first cricket ball I held in my hand was a red ball. I was 10 years old at that time and I had no idea that I would fall in love with this game so deeply.
For me, red-ball cricket has never been just another format. It was here that I understood the grit, character, ability to fight and the real joy of being on the field for many hours and fighting for every run and every wicket.
I played my last first-class match at Lord’s. It is emotional for me to write these words because it was always my dream to wear a Test cap. This was a dream that I carried with me for many years. Perhaps this dream could not be fulfilled, but I am really satisfied with my journey so far and am extremely grateful for every opportunity I have got in this format.
Red Ball has given me some of the most beautiful memories of my life and no one can ever take that away from me.”
But my journey is not over yet.
“The hunger to play for my country is still very much alive. I am confident that there is still cricket left in me and I will give everything to get another chance in the ODI and T20 formats.
Special thanks to Haryana Cricket Association, Shri Ranbir Singh Mahindra Sir and Shri Anirudh Singh Chaudhary Sir. I am grateful to you for your constant support, belief in me and keeping my faith throughout my journey.
From holding a red ball for the first time at the age of 10 to playing his last first-class match, it has truly been an amazing journey. “
‘The Last Dance’ post created a stir
A social media post by Yuzvendra Chahal created a stir in the cricket world on 23 September. Chahal had shared some of his pictures from the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London that day. In the pictures, he was seen standing in the players’ stand and the caption simply read – ‘The Last Dance’.
The meaning of this caption of Chahal was not clear at that time. However, on social media it started being linked to his retirement.
team india Chahal has been out of action for a long time
Chahal’s long absence from the Indian team was also a reason for this speculation. His last ODI for India was against New Zealand on 24 January 2023. He played his last T20I against West Indies on 13 August 2023.
Chahal played 72 ODIs and 80 T20Is for India. He was also a part of the Indian team for the 2024 T20 World Cup, but he did not get a chance to play a single match in the entire tournament. He did not return to the Indian team until February 2026. He took 121 wickets in 72 ODIs and 96 wickets in 80 T20 Internationals. He never got a chance to play red ball i.e. Test cricket for the Indian team.
Did ‘The Last Dance’ mean something else?
At that time it was considered premature to link Chahal’s post to retirement only. There was another reason for this also. Chahal was playing for Northamptonshire in the 2026 County Championship season and this post could also be related to the last match of his county tenure.
Chahal was continuously active in franchise cricket. He rejoined Northamptonshire for the 2026 season. In IPL, he was a part of Mumbai Indians (2011-13), Royal Challengers Bangalore (2014-21), Rajasthan Royals (2022-24) and Punjab Kings (since 2025). In county cricket, he was playing for Kent in 2023 and Northamptonshire from 2024.
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