In a candid revelation that has sent waves through the cricketing community, India’s champion leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has opened up about a significant lifestyle change ahead of the IPL 2026 season. The Punjab Kings (PBKS) star, who remains the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Indian Premier League, confessed that he has completely given up alcohol in a bid to extend his career and guide his franchise to their elusive maiden title.

Yuzvendra Chahal shares big update before IPL 2026

Speaking on the YouTube show of South African legend and former teammate AB de Villiers, Chahal shared the motivations behind this drastic shift. “I’ve stopped drinking alcohol, and it’s been more than six months now,” Chahal stated.

At 35, the wily spinner is acutely aware of the physical demands of modern T20 cricket. “I want to be more active and give my 150% for my team. As a senior player, I want people in the IPL to learn something from me,” he added.

The move comes after a bittersweet IPL 2025 campaign. While Punjab Kings broke their long-standing playoff jinx to reach the final under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, they suffered a heart-wrenching 6-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the summit clash. Chahal, despite finishing the season with 16 wickets, was plagued by injuries during the business end of the tournament.

Reflecting on the loss, Chahal revealed he was playing through the pain of a rib fracture sustained after a game against KKR, followed by a knuckle fracture. “In the semifinal and final, I wasn’t able to bowl my proper leg-spin. This year, I want to take care of my body first,” he noted.

Beyond personal fitness, Chahal pinpointed the absence of South African all-rounder Marco Jansen in the final as the tipping point. Jansen had to depart early for national duties, leaving a void in the PBKS lower order and pace attack.

“If he [Jansen] were there, we would have definitely won the championship,” Chahal conluded, highlighting Jansen’s ability to strike early with the ball and provide late-order cameos.

Also READ: ‘Sarpanch Sahab’ Shreyas Iyer headlines Punjab Kings’ jersey launch for IPL 2026

Yuzi Chahal: Most expensive spinner in the history of IPL

Chahal’s commitment to fitness is not just about personal pride; it is about justifying the immense faith and capital invested in him. During the IPL 2025 mega auction, Punjab Kings scripted history by securing Chahal’s services for a staggering ₹18 crore. This made him the most expensive spinner in the history of the IPL, doubling the previous record held by Rashid Khan.

By entering IPL 2026 in peak physical condition, Chahal aims to repay the record-breaking bid. With over 221 IPL wickets to his name, he remains the gold standard for wrist-spin in the league. As PBKS prepares for the upcoming season, a sober and stronger. Chahal could be the final piece of the puzzle for a team that came within one hit of glory last year.

Also READ: Sanjay Bangar names his playing XI of Punjab Kings for IPL 2026

Suvendu Adhikari and Mamata Banerjee (File photo)

NEW DELHI: With both the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP announcing their candidate lists, the battle for Bengal has effectively begun. While the TMC has declared candidates for all 294 seats, the saffron party has so far named 144, covering roughly half the Assembly. The contest is largely being seen as a direct duel between Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The BJP is now aiming to challenge Mamata Banerjee’s over-a-decade-long rule. Its rise in the Bengali-speaking state has been striking, from near-zero presence to becoming the principal opposition and a serious contender for power.The Modi-led campaign has consistently kept Mamata at the centre of its political attacks, targeting what remains an elusive prize—the second-largest assembly in the country — West Bengal.

2021: The BJP’s turning point

The 2021 assembly election marked a turning point. Despite projecting a landslide victory, the BJP secured 77 seats—falling short of power but registering a dramatic surge from just 3 seats earlier, and firmly establishing itself as a formidable opposition.In many ways, the 2021 election told a bigger story than Mamata Banerjee’s victory, it marked the BJP’s rise to prominence in Bengal politics.

How Bengal voted in 2021

Often called the BJP’s ‘Chanakya’, Amit Shah had confidently declared during the campaign that the party would cross the 200-mark in the 294-member assembly, coining the slogan “abki baar, 200 paar”. The results, however, told a very different story.

The BJP fell well short, not just of 200, but even of the halfway mark of 147 seats.The outcome also brought personal setbacks for several of the party’s prominent faces. Union minister Babul Supriyo, former Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, and Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee were among those who lost their seats.

Voting patterns and missed calculations

Much of the BJP’s strategy had rested on consolidating Hindu votes and gaining the support of Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, while closely watching whether Muslim voters would back the TMC. In the end, the results suggested that Muslim voters largely stood with Mamata Banerjee, while SC votes did not consolidate in the BJP’s favour as expected.

From 2019 highs of BJP to 2021 setback

Compared to its strong performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Assembly results were a setback. Back then, the BJP had won 18 out of 42 seats and led in 121 assembly segments with a vote share of 40.2%. In 2021, it secured 77 seats—44 fewer than the segments it had led in earlier and its vote share dipped slightly to 38.13%.

BJP: A decade of rapid rise

Yet, beneath the disappointment lies a remarkable story of growth. Just a decade ago, in the 2011 Assembly elections, the BJP had failed to win a single seat and managed only 4% of the vote. In 2014, it won two Lok Sabha seats with an 18% vote share. In 2016, it secured three Assembly seats with around 10% votes. From there to 77 seats and over 38% vote share in 2021 marks a dramatic rise.In the process, the BJP has replaced the Left and the Congress, who had dominated Bengal politics for decades, as the principal opposition force. While both the Left parties and the Congress drew a blank in an unprecedented outcome, smaller players like the Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party and an independent candidate managed to win a seat each.The BJP has not just gained seats; it has built an organisational base, a cadre, and a leadership structure in the state. That machinery, now firmly in place, is likely to shape its strategy for future battles, both in the Lok Sabha elections and the next assembly contest.

The Nandigram battle

Another key takeaway for the BJP was the victory of its “giant killer” Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes after a fiercely contested battle.The contest had turned into a prestige fight after Mamata herself chose to challenge Adhikari on his home turf. He had gone a step further, declaring he would quit politics if he failed to defeat her by 50,000 votes. While he fell short of that ambitious claim, his eventual win, even by a slender margin proved politically significant.The defeat dealt a symbolic blow to the TMC’s larger victory and meant Mamata Banerjee would have to seek re-election to the Assembly within six months to continue as chief minister.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is buying commercially available data that can be used to track people’s locations and movement history, Kash Patel, the director of the agency, said at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday (March 18), marking the first time the agency has openly acknowledged the practice is currently ongoing.“We do purchase commercially available information that’s consistent with the Constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us,” Patel told senators, as per a news report by The Politico. It is to be noted that in 2023, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray acknowledged that the agency had purchased location data in the past but stated it was not doing tracking people’s movement at the time.