Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal‘s wife Dhanashree Verma has boosted the confidence of the player ahead of his debut for English county side Kent. After being overlooked by the national selectors for the ongoing Asia Cup and upcoming ODI World Cup, Chahal signed up with Kent and he will be playing three County Championship games for Kent. He will be available for Kent’s remaining home matches against Nottinghamshire and Lancashire, as well as the away game versus Somerset. “Always so proud of you. You are our legend,” wrote Dhanashree on her Instagram story, adding, “Let’s show some more magic.”
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Chahal will become the second Indian to be playing for the side after seamer Arshdeep Singh, who featured in five games for Kent in June-July, capturing 13 wickets.
“This is an exciting challenge for me, playing in English county cricket, and one I’m very much looking forward to,” Chahal said in a club statement.
Meanwhile, Kent head coach Paul Downton said: “We’re delighted to have secured a spinner of Yuzvendra’s quality for the last three Championship matches of the season, with Matt Parkinson not available to us until next year, and Hami Qadri recently injured.”
“He is really looking forward to playing in English conditions and will bring a significant amount of skill and international experience to our squad.” Chahal, who is yet to make his Test debut with India, has played 33 First-Class matches, claiming 87 wickets at an average of 35.25, including three four-fors (in an innings) and a couple of fifers (in an innings). His best figures read 6 for 44 (innings) and 8 for 112 (game).
Considering his recent FC outings, he featured in two meetings for Haryana during the Ranji Trophy last season, bagging three wickets at an average of 92.33.
As for Kent, it is currently placed at the ninth spot of the Division 1 table and faces the risk of being relegated.
Former Indian cricket team spinner Harbhajan Singh was left surprised with the side’s decision to not include Chahal in the Cricket World Cup 2023 squad.
The team management went with Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as the spin bowling with Axar and Jadeja being all-rounders. There was extra focus on all-rounders in the team selection as India also included Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya. “Surprise not to see @yuzi_chahal in the World Cup squad for Team India. pure Match winner,” he posted on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
(With PTI Inputs)
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