“No Spinner Better Than Yuzvendra Chahal…”: Harbhajan Singh On India Star’s Asia Cup Snub

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has shared his views on Yuzvendra Chahal‘s exclusion from the World Cup squad. The veteran leg-spinner failed to make the cut for the tournament as the Indian team management gave preference to Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. The 33-year-old has been in and out of the side over the last two years or so. He was part of the T20 World Cup squad last year but did not play a single game Down Under as India crashed out of the tournament in the semi-final.

Harbhajan feels Chahal is India’s best spinner in white-ball cricket, adding that a few bad games don’t make him a bad bowler.

“The one thing I feel is lacking in the team is the absence of Yuzvendra Chahal. A leg-spinner who can get the ball to turn away. If you talk about genuine spinner, I don’t think there’s any spinner in India better than Chahal in white-ball formats. Yes, his last few games weren’t good, but that doesn’t make him a bad bowler,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

Harbhajan hoped Chahal would return to the team for the World Cup, especially with the tournament set to be held in India.

“I think his presence in the team was necessary. I hope the doors aren’t closed to him. It’s important to consider him for the World Cup because the tournament is in India. Chahal is a proven match-winner. I can understand his form isn’t good, so you may have rested him. But I think if he was with the team, his confidence would’ve stayed intact. Any player who comes back after being dropped, the pressure to perform is always there,” he added.

Chahal had a bad outing in the T20I series against West Indies as he picked just five wickets in as many matches, and leaked runs in the last three encounters.