New Delhi [India]: After being snubbed from the India squad for the five-match T20I series against Australia, the ‘Men in Blue’ spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal shared another cryptic post on X which has attracted mixed reactions from the fans.
The 33-year-old spinner took to his official social media accounts and wrote ‘See you at work’. His post gained more than 510K views on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
In the same post, he shared another photo that quoted, “To hold it together when everyone else thinks otherwise, that’s the true strength of a warrior.”
On Monday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the 15-member squad for their upcoming 20-over series, in which Chahal was one of the notable players who couldn’t make his place in the team list.
The Indian spinner made his T20I debut in 2016, following which he played 80 matches for the ‘Men in Blue’ and scalped 96 wickets with an economy rate of 8.19. Chahal was also left out of India’s ODI squad for the Cricket World Cup.
Coming to the first T20I match, India opted to bowl first. Though they got Matthew Short (13) early, the partnership of 130 runs between Josh Inglis (110 in 50 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes) and Steve Smith (52 off 41 balls, with eight fours) put Men in Blue on backfoot. Rest, the finishing by Tim David (19*) took Australia to 208/3 in 20 overs.
Prasidh Krishna (1/50) and Ravi Bishnoi (1/54) took a wicket each for India.
In the run chase of 209, India lost Ruturaj Gaikwad (0) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (21) early, leaving Men in Blue at 22/2. However, a 112-run stand between Ishan Kishan (58 in 39 balls, with two fours and five sixes) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (80 In 42 balls, with nine fours and four sixes) brought back India into the game. Finishing touches by Rinku Singh (22* in 14 balls, with four boundaries) helped India reach the target with two wickets in hand, despite some tense run-outs in the final over.
Tanveer Sangha (2/47) was the best bowler for Aussies. Matthew Short, Sean Abbott and Jason Behrendorff took a wicket each.
India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (Vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (Wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
