Star leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was brilliant against Derbyshire in the ongoing County Championship Division II as he produced a performance that spoke volumes. Northamptonshire batted first and reached a total of 219 runs, courtesy of Saif Zaib’s gritty 90 and Justin Broad’s handy 45. A much-vaunted player in the Northamptonshire lineup Prithvi Shaw had a bad day in office in the first innings as he got out for just four runs.
In reply, Derbyshire were crumbling with just 165 runs in the scoreboard. A good start by Luis Reece, who scored a half-century, soon became out of control as Chahal came into form. At four, Wayne Madsen seemed to be at an impressive score, reaching 47 but was trapped in the 56th over by Chahal. By then, Chahal had already removed Aneurin Donald, starting his spell of destruction.
The 34-year-old leg-spinner didn’t stop here, as he ran through Derbyshire’s middle and lower order to claim important scalps of Zak Chappell, Alex Thomson, and Jack Morley to finish with a five-wicket haul. His effort enabled Derbyshire to take a slender lead of 54 runs. Off-spinner Robert Keogh gave great support as he claimed three wickets himself.
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Meanwhile, further in the second innings too, the struggles of Prithvi Shaw continued as he got out for just two runs from eight deliveries. Gus Miller did find some form and is Shaw’s opening partner. A lot of hopes rest on him now.
He does this every time.
More magic from Yuzvendra Chahal, who takes 5-45 for Northamptonshire against Derbyshire.
Just watch the deliveries for his second and fifth wickets… pic.twitter.com/XCvYn3mGmN
— Vitality County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 10, 2024
The all-round display of Chahal is, in a way, a statement to the selectors of BCCI, who have axed him from recent series, including the ongoing Duleep Trophy. Though he was part of India’s T20 World Cup squad, Chahal didn’t play a single match and later got dropped for the tours to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
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Chahal has spoken about how badly he wants to play red-ball cricket for India, but for now at least the prospects look slim despite his five-wicket haul in the last round. So far this season he has bowled five innings, taking six wickets at an average of 21.83 – it remains to be seen whether that changes his fortunes with the selectors.
