Introduction
Hat-tricks in T20 cricket are rare. Multiple hat-tricks in T20 cricket are almost mythological. Yuzvendra Chahal, leg-spinner and IPL’s all-time leading wicket-taker, joined an exclusive three-man club on April 30, 2025, when he took his second career IPL hat-trick — this time against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk. The first had come against KKR in 2022. Two hat-tricks across four seasons is a feat matched only by Amit Mishra (3 hat-tricks) and Yuvraj Singh (2) in the competition’s 18-year history.
The Three Balls — How It Happened
Chahal was bowling for Punjab Kings when CSK batted. The hat-trick came in the 19th over of CSK’s innings. First ball: Deepak Hooda attempted to play across the line against a top-spinner from Chahal, got a leading edge, and was caught at mid-off. Second ball: Anshul Kamboj, coming in at number 10, attempted a slog-sweep against a googly, missed it completely, and was bowled. Third ball: Noor Ahmad, the last recognised bowler in the CSK lineup, pushed forward against what appeared to be a leg-break but got the googly again — bowled through the gate. Three different dismissal types. Three different deliveries. Three wickets in three balls. CSK had been 184/5 and were now 187/8. They eventually made 190 all out, losing 5 wickets in the final 7 balls. PBKS won the match. Chahal’s final figures were 4/28.
What Made It Possible — Chahal’s Mastery Over CSK
The hat-trick did not happen by accident. Chahal had studied CSK’s lower-middle order carefully — Hooda, Kamboj, and Noor Ahmad were all batters whose T20 technique had specific vulnerabilities against the leg-spinner’s variations. Hooda’s tendency to play across the line against the top-spinner was documented in PBKS’s pre-match data. Kamboj’s inexperience against quality wrist-spin was a known factor. For Noor Ahmad — a wrist-spinner himself — facing another wrist-spinner creates a very specific challenge: you know the variations intellectually but you have faced fewer balls from that type than from pace or conventional spin. Chahal exploited each batter’s specific weakness with each of three consecutive deliveries. This is not luck. This is craft.
Chahal’s Status — IPL’s Greatest Wicket-Taker
By the time Chahal took this hat-trick in April 2025, he had already surpassed Lasith Malinga as the IPL’s all-time leading wicket-taker. His career total of 221+ IPL wickets represents the most by any bowler in the competition’s history. He has taken those wickets for multiple franchises — RCB, RR, PBKS — always as a leg-spinner who gets better every season rather than declining as most T20 bowlers do with age. In IPL 2026, playing for RR, Chahal will be one of the most dangerous bowlers in any franchise’s arsenal. His record is the most compelling evidence available that leg-spin does not diminish in T20 cricket with age — it accumulates wisdom, and wisdom takes wickets.
DID YOU KNOW? PBKS successfully defended a total of just 111 runs against KKR in the same IPL 2025 season, with Chahal’s 4/28 being the key bowling performance — KKR were bowled out for 95. That match (PBKS 111 defended against KKR 95 all out) is the lowest total ever defended in IPL history.
Final Verdict Two hat-tricks. 221+ IPL wickets. The all-time leading wicket-taker in competition history. Yuzvendra Chahal’s leg-spin career is the most sustained individual bowling achievement the IPL has produced.