Yuzvendra Chahal has credited Royal Challengers Bengaluru for his India cap. Speaking to Aakash Chopra on the Baith & Bol podcast, he said the franchise gave him the platform that domestic cricket did not.
Chahal spent three IPL seasons at Mumbai Indians, mostly on the bench. RCB bought him for ₹10 lakh in 2014, and two years later he made his India debut in Zimbabwe. The same conversation also produced his claim that Dhoni did 50% of the spinners’ job.
What he got from bowling to de Villiers, Gayle and Kohli in the RCB nets was something most net sessions never give a bowler: an honest answer.
“I was in MI for the first three years. I learnt a lot in the nets even though I knew I would not play. Bhajju pa and Ojha helped me a lot. Then, when I went to RCB, I started playing there. RCB has a big hand in me getting the Indian jersey.”
Yuzvendra Chahal, Baith & Bol podcast with Aakash Chopra, October 2026
He was clear that the Ranji Trophy did not open that door.
“I was not playing a lot in Ranji back then. But the blue jersey in white-ball that I got was because of the platform at RCB. It all started from there.”
Yuzvendra Chahal, Baith & Bol podcast with Aakash Chopra, October 2026
Yuzvendra Chahal credits RCB for playing a crucial role in his journey to earning the India cap. 🏏❤️
Full conversation on Lava Presents Baith & Bol, in association with CREX. 🎙️
#YuzvendraChahal #RCB #TeamIndia #BaithAndBol #IPL #Collab https://t.co/OYmzNQhTO3
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 16, 2026
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Chahal told Chopra that if Gayle, de Villiers and Kohli could not hit him in the nets, other batters would find it harder. He added that de Villiers always batted like a proper batter there, with no reverse sweeps. That detail is the whole story.
In most nets, a star batter is rehearsing his own shots, so a bowler gets beaten for reasons that have nothing to do with his ball. A great player batting straight removes that noise. For a young leg-spinner with few first-class overs, a stock ball that survived de Villiers playing it properly was a test no Ranji spell could match.
From ₹10 Lakh Buy to India Cap
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 2011 | Signed by Mumbai Indians |
| 2013 | First MI game, after two seasons on the bench |
| 2014 | Bought by RCB at base price of ₹10 lakh |
| 2014 | 4-0-17-2 against MI, including Rohit Sharma |
| June 2016 | India ODI and T20I debut against Zimbabwe |
| 2014 to 2021 | 139 wickets in 113 RCB matches, still the franchise record |
| 2022 | Released before the mega auction, bought by Rajasthan Royals for ₹6.5 crore |
This is not a new claim. Before his debut in 2016, he told BCCI.tv that his three RCB years, and coach Daniel Vettori, had shaped his bowling.
The twist is that RCB let him go. Chahal now says the release was for the good, and he has since become the IPL’s leading wicket-taker with 233 wickets.
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