If one searches for the highest wicket-taker in the IPL, Yuzvendra Chahal's name comes right on top. With 233 scalps in 188 matches, he tops a list that includes Jasprit Bumrah, Sunil Narine, Ravichandran Ashwin and Lasith Malinga, among others. But his career is full of paradoxes. While he has played 72 ODIs (121 wickets) and 80 T20Is (96 wickets), Chahal has not had a single opportunity to play Test cricket. In his personal life too, Chahal, who is known to be a jovial person, has gone through struggles. Alcohol addiction, divorce and public scrutiny - Chahal has gone through it all.
The 36-year-old opened up about all these aspects in a recent Podcast with former India openerAakash Chopra.
"Yuzi, you are the guy who has made everyone laugh. You are like a livewire on the field, but when you were going through problems in your personal life, was there anybody with you? This is the lowest of the low. The emotional scars when a crisis happens in personal life are different, unlike anything we go through in professional life," Chopra asked during the podcast.
"My best friend and family were there," Chahal replied.
"So when did you decide to give up alcohol?" Chopra then asked.
"After last year of county cricket. It crossed all limits, so I checked into a rehab centre and stayed there for 26 days. Now, I know how to handle it. That decision made a massive difference to my personal life. My maturity increased. My emotions are balanced now. Last IPL, my body felt like I was 30 years old again - doing gym work, fielding drills and training properly," he said.
"But how did it start, and why?" Chopra asked again.
"Initially, I was young. There were parties. In 2011, I played my first IPL. AB de Villiers once told me, 'Balance is key in life.' It sounds easy, but it is not. Things got excessive after my divorce, and my mental state was not that great. I realised that if I continued down that path, I would ruin the very thing I love most - cricket. So I put an end to it, and now I am in a much happier and better space," Chahal said.
In another part of the interview, he was asked about his personal life "getting played out in public" and how he reacted to it.
"When you have a public profile as a public figure, everything happening in your life becomes an invitation for people to comment. I felt bad, and there were a lot of difficulties. It affected my cricket as well. I played two white-ball matches that year and then didn't play T20s because my mindset wasn't right. I wasn't at 100%, and I didn't want the team to suffer because of me," he said.
"I spoke to Anirudh sir and requested a break, and he was very supportive. Eventually, I thought, 'How long will I carry this weight?' Anxiety and panic attacks started happening in my life."
He was also asked about his panic attacks.
"Anxiety is like, the heartbeat increases. For me, my face would shrink during a panic attack. I couldn't even speak; my lip would tighten and pull to one side, so people could figure out that something was wrong with me. That was the first time I realised how intense anxiety could be. Then I realised social media would say a lot of things. Let's focus on the IPL," he said.
"When it slowly subsided, I decided to let it go. Social media will keep talking; you can't shut everyone up. So I decided to start afresh. In my first year with Punjab Kings, when they paid Rs 18 crore for me, I felt, 'They trusted me with so much money; I can't let them down.' In the KKR match, while defending 111, I realised I had to step up," Chahal added.
Chahal was icked ahead of the 2025 season. In the IPL 2025, Chahal picked 16 wickets while in 2026 he had 12 scalps.