File photo of Yuzvendra Chahal© AFP
Former Indian cricket team spinner Harbhajan Singh was left disappointed with the omission of Yuzvendra Chahal from India’s squad for the ODI series against Australia and the Cricket World Cup 2023. India went with the spin trio of Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja but an injury to Axar paved the way for Washington Sundar in the Asia Cup 2023 squad and Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad for the Australia ODIs. Harbhajan was surprised by the decision to not give Chahal a chance and said that maybe he had fought with someone or had said something to someone that had impacted his chances of getting selected.
“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.
Harbhajan also pointed out that both Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin were not part of the original plan and it can point to the fact that the team management is looking 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.
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