Veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla caught everyone’s attention with his impressive comeback in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
After failing to find a bid in the last mega-auction, Chawla took to commentary in IPL 2022. However, the 35-year-old put in the hard yards with Gujarat in domestic cricket where he claimed 16 wickets across Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
As a result, Chawla bagged an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2023 season. He repaid the faith of the MI management by finishing the season as the fourth highest wicket-taker with 22 wickets from 16 matches.
The IPL 2023 season also saw Piyush Chawla sharing the dressing room with Arjun Tendulkar. He has previously played alongside Arjun’s legendary father Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian team.
Recently, Chawla appeared on YouTuber Shubhankar Mishra's show, where he was asked whether he will retire first or MS Dhoni.
In reply, Chawla said: "Mahi bhai. A while ago, Prithvi Shaw told me 'Bas karo yaar ab PC bhai'. I said, I've played with Sachin paaji, and now playing with his son. I am playing with you, and after playing with your son, I will retire."
Piyush Chawla started his IPL journey with Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab). He then played for two-time IPL winner Kolkata Knight Riders before getting picked by Mumbai Indians (MI) twice – once in 2021 and then in 2023.
"With due respect to everyone, MI had good spinners but somewhere down the line, experience matters. If a pressure situation arises, the way an experienced campaigner will handle it, a youngster won't be able to. When we were 20-21, we used to bowl to escape punishment, now we do it to pick wickets. When people questioned, 'Why Piyush Chawla, and this that?', I said fine, let them talk. Then the same people started messaging me, posting on social media such as 'PC is back, PC 2.0," he added.
The IPL 2024 season was underwhelming for Piyush Chawla as he managed to pick 13 wickets in 11 matches. It remains to be seen whether the MI think tank retains his services or buys him back at the upcoming mega-auction.
