The exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal from India’s selection for the ODI series against Australia and the Cricket World Cup 2023 saddened former Indian cricket team spinner Harbhajan Singh. Axar Patel’s injury allowed Washington Sundar to be included in the roster for the Asia Cup 2023 and Ravichandran Ashwin to be included in the squad for the Australia ODIs. Originally, India had the spin trio of Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja. Harbhajan expressed surprise at the decision to pass on Chahal and suggested that it might have been because of a dispute or something he said to someone that affected his chances of being chosen.

“Yuzvendra Chahal ought to have arrived. He hasn’t been given the chance. I don’t comprehend it at all. I don’t know if he’s argued with somebody or if he’s said something to someone. Because several members of Team India are taking a break, his name should have been on the team if we are solely considering talent,” according to Harbhajan on his own YouTube channel.

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The fact that Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin were not included in the first strategy, according to Harbhajan, may indicate that the team management is hunting for an off-spinner.

The first player summoned there was Washington Sundar, who wasn’t on the original Asia Cup roster. After that, R Ashwin has been added as a second player for this series. Therefore, Team India is looking for off-spinners anywhere. They have undoubtedly understood that they made a mistake by not including an off-spinner in the lineup and that our bowlers could have difficulties if a large number of left-handers approach them. “Why go through all of this trouble? They are either going to make another error to make up for their earlier error, which is beyond my comprehension,” he continued.

In his 72 ODI appearances for India, Chahal has 121 wickets at an average of 27.13 and a strike rate of 5.27. He also played a significant role in the Indian team’s run to the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinals. However, he played his final ODI for India against New Zealand in January.