“No Spinner Better Than Yuzvendra Chahal…”: Harbhajan Singh On Bowler’s Asia Cup Omission

New Delhi [India] : Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh shared his views on seasoned bowler Yuzvendra Chahal’s exclusion from India’s 17-member Asia Cup squad.

The veteran spinner Chahal failed to find a spot in the team as India went ahead with three spinners in their squad of 17, with Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav as the preferred choices. Yuzvendra Chahal, who last featured in an ODI in January this year and was also a part of the squad that toured the West Indies, was left out of the side.

Harbhajan believes that a few bad games don’t make the Chahal 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.

Chahal’s snub made heads turn, Harbhajan slammed the omission and backed the veteran spinner for the upcoming home ODI World Cup.

“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.

In the year so far, Chahal has taken nine wickets in nine T20I matches that he has played, while Kuldeep Yadav who has been selected ahead of him has better stats. He has taken 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.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a strong 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 which will begin on August 30 with Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul returning to the squad and Tilak Verma also getting a place in the team.

During the squad announcement, skipper Rohit Sharma 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 the 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,” said the India captain.

“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,” Rohit added.