Yuzvendra Chahal, who recently retired from first-class cricket, has opened up on his struggles in life off the cricket field. Chahal, the top wicket-taker in IPL with 233 wickets, ended his marriage with social media influencer Dhanashree Verma, with the divorce finalised in March 2025.
The Haryana cricketer also suffered from alcohol addiction and he revealed in March this year that he had stopped drinking late last year.
The 36-year-old made these revelations during an episode of Baith & Bol, a podcast hosted by former India cricketer Aakash Chopra.
“Yuzi, you are the guy who has made everyone laugh. You are like a livewire on the field, but when you were going through problems in your personal life, was there anybody with you?
“This is the lowest of the low. The emotional scars when a crisis happens in personal life are different, unlike anything we go through in professional life,” Chopra asked.
Chahal opens up on alcohol addiction
“My best friend and family were there,” the spinner replied. Chopra then asked Chahal as to what made him quit alcohol.
“After last year of county cricket. It crossed all limits, so I checked into a rehab centre and stayed there for 26 days. Now, I know how to handle it. That decision made a massive difference to my personal life.
“My maturity increased. My emotions are balanced now. Last IPL, my body felt like I was 30 years old again – doing gym work, fielding drills and training properly,” the Punjab Kings (PBKS) spinner said.
When asked about when his addiction with alcohol began, Chahal recalled the 2011 IPL season, which was his first season in the tournament.
Mumbai Indians (MI) had signed Chahal for ₹10 lakh ahead of IPL 2011, but he didn’t get a game. He, however, played in the now-defunct Champions League later that year, taking two wickets in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), which MI won. Chahal only made his IPL debut in 2013, when he was still part of MI.
“Initially, I was young. There were parties. In 2011, I was first part of the IPL. AB de Villiers once told me, ‘Balance is key in life.’ It sounds easy, but it is not. Things got excessive after my divorce, and my mental state was not that great.
“I realised that if I continued down that path, I would ruin the very thing I love most – cricket. So I put an end to it, and now I am in a much happier and better space,” he said.
Chahal has played 72 ODIs and 80 T20Is for India since making his senior debut in 2016. He has taken 217 wickets across the two formats combined. Apart from MI, Chahal has also played for RCB, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). He currently plays for the Punjab Kings. In IPL 2026, the leg-spinner took 12 wickets from 14 matches.