Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal will return to Northamptonshire to play in the County Championship and the One-Day Cup in England in 2025. Following his Indian Premier League stint with Punjab Kings, Chahal will join Northants for the second time in his career, the English county club confirmed on Thursday, March 13.
Northamptonshire announced that Chahal will be available for their County Championship Division Two campaign from June 22, starting with a home game against Middlesex. The Indian spinner will miss the first seven matches of the season, which begins on April 4. Before heading to England, Chahal will lead the bowling attack for Punjab Kings in IPL 2025, scheduled to run from 22 March to 25 May. He will then take a month-long break before switching to red-ball cricket in England.
Chahal’s return to red-ball cricket in England coincides with the Indian senior men’s team’s tour of the country for a five-match Test series, starting on June 20.
The leg-spinner re-joins Northants after an impressive stint with the Northampton-based team in 2024. He took 19 wickets in four County Championship matches and claimed a five-wicket haul in a List A game against Kent in the One-Day Cup. His career-best figures of 9 for 99 in red-ball cricket came against Derbyshire in the County Championship last year.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time here last season so I’m very happy to be coming back.” said Chahal, who was fondly called as ‘magician’ by his Northants teammates last year.
“There are some great people in that dressing room, and I can’t wait to be part of that again. We played some great cricket towards the back end of the season so hopefully we’re able to replicate that and big up some victories,” he said.
