Yuzvendra Chahal was a part of the Indian team that went to the semifinals of the 2019 World Cup in England.
New Delhi: Yuzvendra Chahal finally broke his silence after the Indian leg-spinner was omitted from the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023. The Rajasthan Royals spinner stated he does ‘feel bad’ and is ‘used to it’ now. But Chahal has decided to move on and work hard to make an international return.
With the mega event happening at home, Chahal was an obvious choice for any team, but the Indian management opted to go with Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel initially. However, an injury to Axar made way for Ravichandran Ashwin.
“I understand that only fifteen players can be a part, because it’s a World Cup, where you can’t take 17 or 18,” Chahal was quoted as saying to Wisden India. “I do feel a little bad, but my motto in life is to move on. I’m used to it now… it’s been three World Cups (laughs). ”
Chahal made his India debut in 2016 and since then has been one of the pillars in the team’s spin department. In 2019, which was mostly dominated by pacers, Chahal topped the bowling charts as far as spinners in the competition were concerned with 12 wickets.
The three World Cups that Chahal is referring to are the 2021 and 2022 editions of the T20 World Cups and the upcoming one. While Chahal didn’t get a game in the 2022 edition in Australia, in 2021 Chahal didn’t get picked.
Former BCCI president and India captain Sourav Ganguly had spoken about Chahal’s inclusion in the World Cup and how important he will be for India. In fact, after the squad was announced, several former stars like Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh also showed disappointment about Chahal’s exclusion.
However, to stay away from all these, Chahal decided to sign up for Kent and play three games for them in the County Championship. “That’s why I came here [at Kent] to play because I want to play cricket somewhere, somehow,” Chahal said.
“I’m getting a chance here with a red ball, and I seriously want to play red ball for India. So it was a good experience for me. I spoke to the coaches too, and they’re happy I’m playing somewhere, because you can practice as much in the nets, but match is match.
“I’m getting to play at a very good level here – first division, County – learning a lot here.”