Virat Kohli explains why Yuzvendra Chahal was overlooked for Rahul Chahar in the World Cup squad.
T20 World Cup 2021: The Indian selection committee stunned everyone with the choice of selection they did for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 squad. The 15-men strong Indian squad included several players who were nowhere near the Indian setup, however, some players who were certain to get a chance in the World Cup were given an axe by the selectors raising the eyebrows of netizens.
Experienced campaigner Yuzvendra Chahal was the one who didn’t quite manage to find his spot in the World Cup squad despite performing consistently in the shortest format for years. Explaining and justifying selectors move to drop Chahal out of the squad, Virat admitted that leaving Chahal out of the squad was a tough call for them.
The Indian selectors overlooked Yuzvendra Chahal and picked Rahul Chahar in his place due to his consistency over the last couple of years. Chahar did well in the past few IPL seasons and also bowled with consistency in the recent series against Sri Lanka.
“It was a challenging call but we decided to back Rahul Chahar for a reason. He has bowled amazingly well over the last couple of years in the IPL. A guy who bowls with pace, he did really well in Sri Lanka and against England at home as well, he was someone who bowled those difficult overs,” Virat Kohli said on Saturday during a Captain’s Call organised by the ICC ahead of the tournament.
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Kohli believes that bowlers who do not give much air to the ball and bowl with a good pace are certainly going to benefit from the UAE surface. The wickets have shifted to the slower side and as the tournament begins wickets will go further towards slowness.
“We believe going on in this tournament, the wickets are going to get slower and slower, so guys who bowl with pace will be able to trouble the batters as compared to those who give it air,” he added.
The ability of Rahul Chahar to bowl quicker through the air on those surfaces and attacking the wickets gave him a healthy edge over Yuzvendra Chahal.
“Rahul definitely has those strengths naturally as a leg-spinner. He is someone who always attacks the wickets, that is the factor that tilted the thing in favour of him. Picking a World Cup is always tricky and you cannot always have everyone in that squad.”
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