Former Indian cricket team spinner Harbhajan Singh expressed his disappointment over the exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal from India’s squad for the ODI series against Australia and the Cricket World Cup 2023. Indian cricket management has gone with Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja for the spin option in the upcoming tournament. However, due to an injury to Axar Patel, Washington Sundar was included in the Asia Cup 2023 squad while Ravichandran Ashwin was added to the squad for the Australia ODIs.
The former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has expressed his surprise at the decision to not provide Chahal with an opportunity, speculating that perhaps Chahal had some disagreement or had made some comments that affected his chances of being picked in the Indian squad.
“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.
While talking further, Harbhajan Singh said that both Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin were not initially part of the original plan. This indicates that the team is searching for an off-spinner for the marquee event.
“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 is 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.
