Team India's star leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who made headlines after being snubbed by Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee for India's Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023 squads, made a brilliant start to his County Championship stint with Kent. Chahal, at present, is playing for Kent cricket club in the County Championship Division One 2023. His debut in county cricket was quite impressive as the leg spinner took three wickets against Nottinghamshire in a Division One fixture on Tuesday (September 12).
After being ignored by the Indian selectors for the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 and the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 tournament, the 33-year-old senior spinner returned with remarkable bowling figures of 3 for 63 in 29 overs on the third day of the four-day contest at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury on Tuesday. During his spell, he also bowled 10 maiden overs.
Chahal dismissed Nottinghamshire batters Matthew Montgomery, Lyndon James and Calvin Harrison to claim his three wickets. Apart from Yuzvendra Chahal, England's Aaron Nijjar took 4 wickets for 67 runs in 32 overs for Kent. Nijjar bowled 11 overs maiden. Notably, he too is of Indian origin.
Magical spells from Chahal and Nijjar made sure that the entire Nottinghamshire team returned back to the pavilion for 265 runs in 98.2 overs, forcing them to follow on. Kent won the toss and asked Nottinghamshire to bowl first. Batting first, Kent scored 446 runs for 10 wickets in 115.4 overs. In reply, Nottinghamshire got all out for 265 runs in their first innings and by the time this news article was written, they were 33 for loss of one wicket in second session of Day 3.
Chahal, who hasn't played ODI cricket for the Indian cricket team since January 2023, was signed up with Kent for three County matches, at home against Nottinghamshire and Lancashire and for an away fixture against Somerset.