2-Time World Cup Winner, 3rd-Highest Wicket Taker In IPL Announces Retirement

Piyush Chawla, one of the longest-serving Indian players in the game of cricket at the professional level, finally bid adieu to it on June 6, announcing his retirement from all forms of the sport through an Instagram post. 

Chawla, who featured in three Tests, 25 ODIs and seven T20Is for India between 2006 and 2012, having made his debut at the age of 18, emerged as one of the biggest bowlers in the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

The 36-year-old still remains the third highest wicket-taker in the league, playing all but one season till the 2024 edition of the league, picking 192 wickets in the same number of matches for four different sides–Punjab Kings (PBKS), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI). 

Chawla thanked his coaches, family, all the IPL teams he has represented as well as the state associations in a heartfelt note on his Instagram post. 

A seasoned campaigner in domestic cricket, Chawla represented Uttar Pradesh, the state of his birth, but later moved to Gujarat, following in the footsteps of another UP legend, RP Singh. 

In 137 First-Class matches, Chawla picked up 446 wickets out of which 234 came for UP, which is the most by any bowler  for the state to date. He played 83 matches for the UP-side and 19 for Gujarat. 

Chawla also registered his appearances in County Cricket, playing 10 First-Class matches for Somerset (4) and Sussex (6). Chawla also played for Central Zone (12), India A and Board President’s XI (9) and Rest of India (1). 

With the bat, Chawla was more than decent enough, scoring 5486 runs at an average of 30.99 with six hundreds and 36 fifties to his name.