Yuzvendra Chahal celebrates with teammates (PTI Photo/Shashank Parade)( Yuzvendra Chahal heads into IPL 2026 with a renewed mindset and strong focus on fitness as he hopes to turn a difficult phase of his career into a fresh start with the Punjab Kings. The 35-year-old leg-spinner, who has not featured for India since 2023, has revealed a major personal change that he believes will help him extend his career and perform at a higher level.In an interview with AB de Villiers on his YouTube show, Chahal shared that he has completely given up alcohol. “This year, my mind told me to take care of my body first. And I have good news for you: I stopped drinking alcohol.”
Watch
IPL 2026 should be an audition for India’s next T20I captain “It’s been more than six months. I’m 35 now. I want to be more active and I want to give my team 150 percent. As a senior bowler, when I go to the IPL, I want people to see me and think we have to learn something from him,” Chahal said.The decision comes after several challenging years, both professionally and personally. Once on the verge of becoming India’s first bowler to reach 100 T20I wickets, Chahal remains on 96, with Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya having since crossed the milestone.Off the field too, Chahal has endured a tough time, including a high-profile divorce from Dhanashree Verma last year after months in the public eye.Despite these setbacks, he played a key role in Punjab Kings’ strong IPL 2025 campaign. He picked up 16 wickets in 14 matches at an economy rate of 9.56, becoming the league’s all-time leading wicket-taker during the season. Led by Shreyas Iyer, Punjab reached the final but were not enough against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.Chahal admitted the defeat still lingers and pointed to the absence of all-rounder Marc Jansen as a crucial factor. “We missed Jansen in the final because he wasn’t there. If he was there, we would have won the championship for sure,” Chahal said.The leg-spinner also revealed that he was not fully fit during the business end of the tournament. “I was a bit disappointed with myself. After the KKR game, I had a fractured rib and later I broke my knuckle. So in the semi-final and final, I was not able to swing my leg properly. This year, I want to take care of my body first,” he said.With 221 wickets in 174 matches, Chahal remains the highest wicket-taker in the IPL and will once again be central to Punjab’s title ambitions. As the franchise prepares to open their IPL 2026 campaign on March 31 against Gujarat Titans, Chahal’s renewed discipline and focus could prove crucial in their quest for a maiden title.
