Asia Cup 2023 Squad: File image of Indian cricket team spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.© AFP
The Indian cricket squad for the Asia Cup 2023 was announced on Monday. Most of the squad inclusions were on expected line with KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah being named after a length injury break. Rahul is still nursing an injury and hence Sanju Samson has been kept as the backup. However, one notable omission in the squad was that of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. He was part of the ODI and T20I sides that toured West Indies recently. Chahal came up with a cryptic post on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the selection.
He used two emojis: the first one of that of ‘Sun behind Cloud’ and then the next one of that of ‘Sun with face.’
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— Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) August 21, 2023
BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar in a press conference on Monday that fitting in two wrist spinners in the current set-up was proving to be difficult for the Asia Cup, which is why Yuzvendra Chahal was omitted from the squad and Kuldeep Yadav is currently ahead of him in the scheme of things.
Agarkar said this while addressing a press conference with skipper Rohit Sharmaand announced the Asia Cup 2023 squad.
“Axar Patel has done really well. He can bat too. Kuldeep Yadav has had a fantastic run to this point. So someone had to miss out. Kuldeep is currently a little ahead of him (Chahal), said Agarkar in the conference.
Kuldeep has had a fantastic 2023 in white-ball cricket, taking seven wickets in three matches with the best figures of 4/6 and eight wickets in seven T20Is, with the best figures of 3/28. This year Chahal has taken three wickets in two ODIs and nine wickets in nine T20Is.
Skipper Rohit said that the team had a discussion about an off or leg spinner. “But we also want someone who can bat at number eight and nine. Axar has had a great run with the bat in all formats and the IPL. He got some chances in West Indies too, but he bats too low. Him being there gives us batting depth, a left-hand option and someone who we can use up the order to play spin. We also thought of Ashwin (Ravichandran Ashwin) and Washi (Washington Sundar) as well. The only way we could include them was by having a seamer miss out. We cannot do this because seamers are going to be playing a massive role in the next two months.”
“But the door is open for all. If we need Chahal in World Cup, we will try to squeeze him in. The same goes for Ashwin and Washington,” he added.
With ANI inputs
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