While there were some surprising inclusions in the squad, a few big names failed to make a cut in the final 15. The exclusion of India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is, Yuzvendra Chahal, from the T20 WC squad surprised many.
“Yuzi Chahal has been India’s best T20 spinner for the last few years. And he’s the second best T20 spinner in the world after Rashid Khan. India picks 5 spinners and he isn’t one of them. Let that sink in. #IndianCricketTeam,” tweeted cricketer-turned-analyst Aakash Chopra.
Meanwhile, in his first virtual press meet on Wednesday night, India chief selector Chetan Sharma revealed why wrist-spinner Chahal wasn’t picked, and young Rahul Chahar was preferred over him.
“We had a discussion over Yuzvendera Chahal and the selectors thought was we need a bowler, who can bowl fast, and as we have recently seen Rahul Chahar bowling, the speed that he bowls with, the selectors thought that we need such a player, who can on those wickets, can hold and more speed, and so, there was a lot of discussion about Chahal, but we zeroed on Rahul Chahar,” he said.
Talking about Varun Chakravarthy’s inclusion into the final 15, Sharma said: “Varun has bowled really well at an economy rate of five in Sri Lanka. He is a mystery spinner and people find it difficult to read him. I would say he is the surprise package. This was the main reason to pick Varun as he is a mystery bowler.”
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