Rohit Sharma on exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal: We wanted someone who bowls fast
The absence of Yuzvendra Chahal in the 15-man squad at the T20 World Cup caused surprise.
Youngster Rahul Chahar has been picked by the selectors ahead of the experienced Chahal, who has bagged 21 wickets in the last Indian Premier League (IPL), held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Rahul Chahar has been preferred over Chahal, who was a certainty in India’s limited over squads until now.
Sharing light on the omission of Chahal, chief selector Chetan Sharma said: “Yuzvendra Chahal’s name was discussed. But we picked Rahul Chahar over Yuzi as we wanted someone who bowls fast and gets pace off the pitch. He also gets the ball to grip through the surface.”
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has also raised question on the omission of Yuzvendra Chahal from the T20 World Cup.
“Congratulations everyone who got selected in team India for T20 World Cup. Feel bad for Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendra Chahal, they are consistent in this shorter format,” Harbhajan wrote on Twitter.
“Yuzi took 21 wickets in last IPL held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. He is all time highest wicket taker for India in T20.”
Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin returned to India’s white-ball outfit after four years. Ashwin last played white-ball cricket for India in 2017 before being sidelined from one-day cricket following the Champions Trophy.
“Ashwin is an asset. He performed well in the IPL and we needed a player of his experience. We need an off-spinner with Washington (Sundar) injured.
“Ashwin is the only off-spinner in the squad. Varun is a mystery spinner who is a surprise package for the world,” he added.
The T20 World Cup starts October 17 in the UAE and Oman.
India will open their T20 World Cup campaign on October 24 by taking on arch-rivals Pakistan.
Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami
Standby players: Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar
