Chahal was part of the Mumbai Indians squad in IPL 2013.
Veteran India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal narrated the episode of being hung from a hotel’s 15th-floor balcony by a heavily drunk teammate during the IPL 2013 season.
The horrifying near-death experience for Chahal occurred during a post-match party in Bengaluru while he representing the Mumbai Indians (MI).
When Chahal first went public with the incident in 2022, widespread online speculation had accused the late Andrew Symonds or New Zealand's James Franklin. Chahal's latest confirmation exonerates both players, though he has still chosen to keep the specific culprit's name anonymous.
Speaking on former Indian opener Aakash Chopra’s podcast, Chahal shared extensive details about the life-threatening incident. He revealed that the individual responsible was an intoxicated Australian cricketer, explicitly confirming it was not Symonds.
"There was a party in Bengaluru hosted by RCB. I was playing for MI at the time. I also went there and saw a guy who was heavily drunk. He was well-built and very strong. He was from Australia, but he was neither Symonds nor Franklin, rather some other guy. He called me over and then lifted me into the air. At first, I thought he was joking, but then he hung me over the balcony, and I was just holding on to his neck," said Chahal.
"I was terrified. He was heavily drunk, and everyone in the room was stunned. Suddenly, everyone intervened and pulled me back up. That guy was laughing, but for me, it felt like a second birth. I think it was on the 15th or 16th floor of the hotel," he added.
Chahal also explained that as a newcomer to the tournament, he was young and naive and completely unaware of the standard protocols or how to lodge a formal complaint against a senior player. Fearing it might disrupt his future, he made the conscious decision to move past the trauma and dedicate all his energy to his cricket career—ultimately going on to become the IPL's all-time leading wicket-taker.
Yuzvendra Chahal has fallen out of favour with the national selectors for some time. His last appearance for India was a T20I against the West Indies in 2023. Though he was part of the squad that won the 2024 T20 World Cup, he did not get game time and hasn't been recalled since.
Earlier this month, the leg-spinner called time on his first-class career. However, he clearly stated, "I am not done yet," reaffirming his hunger to perform in List A and domestic T20s to earn back his spot in India's ODI and T20I squads.