Yuzvendra Chahal’s omission from squads for the Asia Cup and the 50-over World Cup caused quite a stir in the Indian cricket fraternity. And now, his non-selection for the Australia ODIs has reignited the debate. Captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the squad for the upcoming 3-match ODI series during which they named Ravichandran Ashwin as the replacement for Axar Patel, who injured his quadriceps in the Asia Cup 2023. At the same time, Washington Sundar, who replaced Axar in the final of the continental event, retained his place as well.
The team announcement left Harbhajan Singh surprised as he couldn’t find Chahal’s name in the squad. In his latest YouTube video, the former India off-spinner made a wild guess that either the wrist spinner picked up a fight with someone in the management or told something to somebody which led to his snub.
“Yuzvendra Chahal should have been here. He has not been given an opportunity. It is beyond my understanding. Either he has fought with someone or he has said something to someone, I don’t know. If we talk only about skill, his name should have been there in this team because a lot of Team India players are resting," Harbhajan said on his official YouTube channel.
The former cricketer further highlighted that the likes of Ashwin and Sundar weren’t part of the original plan which certainly hints at Team India’s requirement for an off-spinner.
“First Washington Sundar, who wasn’t in the original Asia Cup squad, was called there. After that, a second player has been added for this series and that is R Ashwin. So somewhere or the other Team India are searching for off-spinners. They have probably realized their mistake that they haven’t picked an off-spinner in the team and that our bowlers can get into trouble if a lot of left-handers come in front of them. Why unnecessarily go through all this? It is beyond my understanding or they are going to make another mistake to rectify their earlier mistake," he added.
India’s squad for the Australia ODIs:
First two ODIs: KL Rahul (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar.
3rd ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel (subject to fitness), Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar.
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