Former India spinner Piyush Chawla played his milestone game in T20 cricket for the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the ongoing edition of the ILT20. Chawla, who retired from Indian cricket earlier this year, is still going strong in other leagues across the world.
Former India spinner Piyush Chawla played his milestone 300th game in the T20 format on Sunday, December 7, in the International League T20 (ILT20). Chawla, who retired from international and Indian cricket earlier this year, is plying his trade in overseas T20 leagues and was picked as a wildcard by the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. Chawla has been a regular for ADKR in the ILT20 so far, starting in the line-up in all three games and completed the milestone on Sunday, having been on 297 matches before the start of the tournament.
Chawla was only the fourthย frontline Indian bowler to play 300 T20 matches after R Ashwin (333), Yuzvendra Chahal (329) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (315). If the all-rounders are included, Ravindra Jadeja (346) and Hardik Pandya (310) are make the cut and Chawla is the sixth Indian bowler in that regard, while being 13th overall from his country to reach the milestone. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli lead the list with 463 and 414 appearances, respectively in T20 cricket for India, in domestic cricket and in the IPL.
On slowish wickets of Dubai and Sharjah, Chawla is slowly coming into his own. The 36-year-old was expensive in the first game, going for 36 runs in two overs but has come back well in the last two, taking a wicket each in the three matches so far. Chawla and Narine will be a useful spin bowling combo for the Knight Riders going forward, as it did for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL until 2019, and the Men in Purple will be keen to go on a winning run.
The Jason Holder-led side has won one and lost a couple of games so far, but have enough strength in the side this time around to turn their results around in the ILT20. The Knight Riders will be next in action in the home game in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, December 11, against the MI Emirates. On Sunday too, ADKR’s batting came up short against the Dubai Capitals, having been shot out for 103, chasing 187.
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