Piyush Chawla

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Chawla spent his childhood in Moradabad and learnt early essentials of cricket at Sonakpur Stadium under the guidance of his first coach Mr KK Gautam. He completed his schooling from Wilsonia College, Moradabad. He first played for India U-19 against the England U-19 team in 2004–05, claiming 13 wickets from two Under-19 Tests. He also played in the 2005–06 home series against Australia U-19, taking eight wickets. In the 2005–06 Challenger Trophy, he played for India B and took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He made his first class debut for Central Zone against South Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He took 4 wickets in 8 overs conceding only 8 runs in the U-19 World Cup final of 2006. He was selected for his Test debut in the second Test against England in Mohali, making him the second youngest Test debutant for India after Sachin Tendulkar. He played his first ODI on 12 May 2007 against Bangladesh, taking 3 wickets. In 2009, he signed for Sussex County Cricket Club for a month. He was a member of the ICC Cricket World Cup-winning Indian squad in 2011. He returned to play his third Test against England at Nagpur in December 2012, taking 4/69 in the 1st innings. He joined Somerset as their overseas player in August 2013. He was the leading wicket-taker for Gujarat in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 32 dismissals in six matches, and also the leading wicket-taker for Gujarat in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy, with sixteen dismissals in eight matches. On 6 June 2025, Chawla announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

In Their Own Story

The narrative of Piyush Chawla's 2020 campaign is rooted in the high-stakes environment of the December 2019 auction. On that day in Kolkata, he became the focal point of bidding wars, ultimately fetching ₹6.75 crore from Chennai Super Kings. This price tag eclipsed all other Indian players at the event, with only Australian Pat Cummins commanding a higher fee globally for the Kolkata Knight Riders. While his former team, Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils), saw key transfers like Ravichandran Ashwin move to them in November 2019, Chawla found himself on the opposite side of the ledger. His participation in the rescheduled tournament, which ran from September to November 2020 in the UAE, meant playing without an audience and adhering to new rules like third-umpire adjudication for front-foot no-balls.

Reader's Guide

Chawla played in the IPL for the Kings XI Punjab team from 2008 to 2013. He was sold for US$900,000 to KXIP in the 4th Edition of IPL. On 12 February 2014, he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for 4.25 lakh in IPL 7 auction. In January 2018, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 IPL auction. In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Chennai Super Kings. In February 2021, he was bought by the Mumbai Indians. During the 2022 Indian Premier League, Chawla remained unsold. He was again bought by Mumbai Indians in the IPL auction ahead of the 2023 Indian Premier League for the base price of 50 lakh.

Did You Know?

• Chawla was the second youngest Test debutant for India after Sachin Tendulkar.
• He scored 102* from only 86 balls for Sussex against Worcestershire in 2009.
• He took 446 wickets in 137 first-class matches playing domestic cricket for Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.