Chahar became one of MI’s top buys at the auction after the five-time champions beat arch-rivals CSK to his signing.
Chahar was a vital cog in the Chennai Super Kings pace attack and played a key role in their three title victories from 2018 to 2023. The Indian pacer shares a great bond with former CSK captain Dhoni and grew in stature while playing under his captaincy for the Men in Yellow. Chahar himself has admitted in the past that Dhoni played a huge role in shaping his career.
Speaking after his move to Mumbai Indians at the IPL 2025 mega auction, Chahar revealed he was hoping to continue with CSK but was happy to join another champion team in Mumbai Indians. The Indian pacer also said he would miss playing with Dhoni.
“I’m quite happy. I had hoped to continue with CSK, but no regrets. Now, I’ll be playing for another great franchise that has won five IPL trophies. I’ll obviously miss playing with MS Dhoni. Mumbai Indians is a great franchise, so I’m really looking forward to playing for them,” Chahar told Jio Cinema.
Chahar has been one of the most successful Powerplay bowlers in the IPL in the last few years. He has 60 wickets in 81 innings in the Powerplay in his IPL career. Chahar joined CSK in 2018 after playing under Dhoni for the now-defunct Rising Pune Super Giants. He picked up only 10 wickets in 12 matches in his debut season but improved massively in the following season.
In IPL 2019, Chahar was one of CSK’s leading wicket-takers with 22 wickets from 17 matches and played an instrumental role in helping the team reach the final of the tournament. The pacer played 76 matches for CSK and picked up 76 wickets at an economy rate of 7.91. Chahar is the 5th highest wicket-taker for CSK in IPL history.
Mumbai Indians build incredible pace attack
Mumbai Indians headed into the auction looking to build a strong pace attack and managed to succeed after roping in the likes of Trent Boult and Chahar. Both Boult and Chahar can swing the new ball both ways and can be tricky customers for rival teams, leaving Jasprit Bumrah free to bowl his entire spell in the death overs.