LSG vs RR: Difficult to watch Yuzvendra Chahal get 200 wickets - AB de Villiers makes shocking statement

RCB's South African legend AB de Villiers has admitted that it was not easy for him to see Yuzvendra Chahal claim his 200th IPL wicket while playing for Rajasthan Royals.

AB de Villiers, who spent more than 5 seasons with Yuzvendra Chahal in the RCB dressing room, also criticized the franchise for letting the latter go. Since then, the South-Indian franchise has struggled to find a suitable replacement for the leg-spinner who is currently ruling the IPL 2024 highest wicket-taker chart.

Yuzvendra Chahal: A Class apart bowler in IPL

Yuzvendra Chahal is the joint most wicket-taker in IPL 2024 along with Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah after the completion of 40 matches. All 3 of them have scalped 13 wickets each from 8 matches with Patel having the worst economy rate of 9.58 while Bumrah and Chahal have 6.37 and 8.83.

The leg-spinner, who stands as Bengaluru's best bowler in terms of most wickets, recently claimed his 200th IPL scalp during Rajasthan's away game against Mumbai. Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi to complete the incredible feat which has never been done before.

Neither has it been done before nor will this happen any time soon. The closest to his record is Dwayne Bravo, who retired from IPL long ago. Among the active participants, only Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sunil Narine, and Jasprit Bumrah have the chance of completing 200 wickets.

But it is also possible that by the time any other bowler completes 200 wickets, Yuzi Chahal would have taken his tally to 250 wickets. The 33-year-old is among the key players behind Rajasthan's presence at the top of the points table with 14 points to their name from 8 matches. The Royals have suffered only one defeat so far and they are just 2 wins away from securing qualification in the play-offs.

What did AB de Villiers say about Chahal?

While speaking in his latest YouTube video, AB de Villiers had nothing but words of praise for Yuzvendra Chahal. The former South African captain hailed Chahal for his completion of 200 IPL wickets and also praised him for the number of innings that he took to achieve the feat.

AB de Villiers then took shots at RCB for their blunder of letting Chahal go away before the 2022 mega IPL auction. The former Mr. 360-degree batter called Bengaluru's management crazy for doing so and admitted that Chahal was the team's best bowler during his time at the franchise.

"Double hundred for Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) with a ball in hand in the IPL. He's the first guy to reach 200 wickets, and the most impressive thing about this (is) it is in 152 innings. RCB let him go… I've mentioned this before: a heartbreaking moment when he left RCB. He was part of the furniture there and also the best bowler. It was crazy that he got left out of that side," AB de Villiers said on his latest YT video.

"It's not easy to watch him go to 200 wickets…the most successful bowler of all time in the IPL, and with him not being at RCB. He's been a huge addition to that RR squad, has done fantastically well for them and part of the success of this season for them” he added