Ex-Chief Selector Weighs In On Yuzvendra Chahal's Non-Selection For T20 World Cup

Yuzvendra Chahal was left out of India's 15-man T20 World Cup squad that was picked last month. The selectors named a squad with five specialist spinners, recalling Ravichandran Ashwin for the marquee tournament but what caught the eye of many cricket pundits and fans was the omission of Chahal from the provisional squad. Speaking on Chahal's non-selection for the upcoming T20 World Cup, former chief selector MSK Prasad expressed his views on Chahal's non-selection for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Prasad, surprised by Chahal's omission, said that the leg-spinner has never disappointed Virat Kohli and has bowed well on flat tracks in Bengaluru.

"I think he is our best T20 bowler in terms of wickets. He has done superbly in the last 4-5 years. Fortunately, or unfortunately, what the selectors would have thought is the competition between Rahul Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal. On flat wickets like in Bangalore, he (Chahal) has never disappointed his captain Virat and he's always given you wickets," Prasad told Sports Tak.

MSK Prasad further added that the selectors must have considered the performances of the two players in the last one year and that is why the Royal Challengers Bangalore spinner was left out of the T20 World Cup.

"But if you see his performance in the last year, year and a half, there is a little dip in his performance. Similarly, if you see Rahul Chahar's performances, he has played an important role in winning back-to-back IPL titles for Mumbai Indians. Probably that went on Chahar's favour," Prasad added.

In the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Chahal has been in superb form while Chahar has struggled in the UAE leg of the tournament.

The RCB spinner has taken 10 wickets in five matches in the UAE this season while Chahar has only managed to get two wickets and proved a tad bit too expensive for the defending champions.

All the teams can make changes to their provisional squad by October 10.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Yuzvendra Chahal Rahul Chahar ICC T20 World Cup 2021 Cricket