Former Indian cricket team spinner Harbhajan Singh expressed his disappointment regarding Yuzvendra Chahal’s exclusion from India’s squad for the ODI series against Australia and the Cricket World Cup 2023. Instead, India chose the spin trio of Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja. However, Axar’s injury led to Washington Sundar’s inclusion in the Asia Cup 2023 squad, and Ravichandran Ashwin joined the team for the Australia ODIs. Harbhajan found it surprising that Chahal didn’t get an opportunity, speculating that perhaps there were off-field issues affecting his selection, such as a rift or disagreement with someone in the cricketing setup.
“Yuzvendra Chahal should have been here. He has not been given an opportunity. It is beyond my understanding. Either he has fought with someone or he has said something to someone, I don’t know. If we talk only about skill, his name should have been there in this team because a lot of Team India players are resting,” Harbhajan Singh said on his official YouTube channel.
Harbhajan also noted that neither Washington Sundar nor Ravichandran Ashwin were initially part of the original plan, suggesting that the team management may be in search of an off-spinner for their lineup.
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“First Washington Sundar, who wasn’t in the original Asia Cup squad, was called there. After that, a second player has been added for this series and that is R Ashwin. So somewhere or the other Team India are searching for off-spinners. They have probably realized their mistake that they haven’t picked an off-spinner in the team and that our bowlers can get into trouble if a lot of left-handers come in front of them. Why unnecessarily go through all this? It is beyond my understanding or they are going to make another mistake to rectify their earlier mistake,” Bhajji added.