Yuzvendra Chahal retires from first-class cricket without the Test cap he wanted

Yuzvendra Chahal has retired from first-class cricket at 36, closing a red-ball career of 49 matches and 148 wickets that never brought him the Test cap he wanted

The leg-spinner announced the decision on Instagram on Friday, ending a red-ball career that began with Haryana in 2009 and finished at Lord's, where he took two wickets for Northamptonshire against Middlesex in the County Championship.

Chahal, who has played 72 ODIs and 80 T20Is for India, was equally clear about what he is not giving up. "But I AM NOT DONE YET. The hunger to play for my country is still very much alive," he wrote, and said he intends to keep chasing a place in the one-day and T20 sides.

He signs off from the long format with 148 wickets at 32.27 from 49 matches, including six five-wicket hauls.

A red ball at ten

Chahal framed the announcement around where the game started for him rather than where it stopped. "The first cricket ball I ever held was a red ball. I was 10 years old, and I had no idea then how deeply I would fall in love with this game," he wrote.

He went on to describe the format as formative rather than incidental. "For me, red-ball cricket was never just another format. It was where I learned the meaning of patience, character, resilience and the pure joy of being out there for hours, fighting for every run and every wicket."

The Test cap that never came

For all the white-ball currency he built, Chahal was never picked in an India Test side. He came closest when the selectors sent him to play for India A against South Africa A at a point when coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli were looking for a wrist spinner, but he was never brought into the Test scheme.

The venue made the admission harder. "I played my last First-Class match at Lord's, saying these words is emotional as a Test cap was always a dream, one that I carried with me for many years," he wrote. "It may not have happened, but I am genuinely content with the journey I have had and incredibly grateful for every opportunity that came my way in this format."

A late flourish at Northampton

His final red-ball season was among his best. Chahal played five matches for Northamptonshire in Division Two of the 2026 County Championship and took 21 wickets at 16.14, a return he described as satisfying.

The standout was against Durham, where he finished with nine wickets in the match, including a five-wicket haul in an innings.

It was his third county engagement. He spent the back end of the 2023 season with Kent before joining Northamptonshire for 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Still knocking on the white-ball door

Chahal has not played for India since 2023. His last ODI came against New Zealand at Indore in January that year and his last T20I against West Indies the following August, leaving him on 121 ODI wickets and 96 in T20Is.

He was in the squad that won the 2024 T20 World Cup but did not play a match in the tournament.

In the IPL he became the first bowler to reach 200 career wickets in 2024, after spells with Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals, and now plays for Punjab Kings.

Thanks to the association that started him

Chahal used the statement to thank the Haryana Cricket Association and its officials Ranbir Singh Mahindra and Anirudh Singh Chaudhary for backing him across his career.

"From a 10-year-old holding his first red ball to playing his final First-Class game, it has been one hell of a journey," he wrote.

At 36, the red-ball chapter is shut and the only selection door Chahal is still knocking on is the white-ball one.

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