INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: India star spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's exclusion from India's Asia Cup 2023 squad raised quite a few eyebrows
The question - why Kuldeep over Chahal? - started doing the rounds of social media after the latter's exclusion from the continental
event.Once India's go-to bowler, there is now a big question mark over Chahal's inclusion in the ICC ODI World Cup which will be played at
home, as well.The Haryana-born Chahal was excluded from the 2021 T20 World Cup before returning for the 2022 edition in Australia
However, in the 2022 edition, Chahal, the highest wicket-taker for India in T20Is, did not get a single game in the tournament.(Photo by
Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)A quick look at India's Asia Cup squad this time shows that the Men in Blue will go into the tournament this
time without a single right-arm spinner
There are in fact three left-arm spinners in the squad - Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.Former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar
backed captain Rohit for picking Chinaman bowler Kuldeep over Chahal."In terms of spinners, they (captain and selectors) have picked the
spinners that they feel can do the best for them
Once you reach that level, be it Chahal or Kuldeep, the margin of error is not too much
The margins are very very small
That was the right decision from the captain to pick Kuldeep ahead of Chahal," Nayar, who is a cricket expert for JioCinema, told
TimesofIndia.com in an interview.India will also be relying heavily on their right-arm pacers
India have excluded left-arm speedster Arshdeep and included Prasidh Krishna, along with Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami,
Hardik Pandya, and Shardul Thakur in the squad.Prasidh over Arshdeep - was that the right call?When asked about this, Nayar said: "The
conditions play a big role
If the captain Rohit Sharma is comfortable with the fact that he needs pace, if he thinks that someone can come and bring a different
dimension, I don't see any harm in it
Arshdeep was not in the scheme of things
I truly believe that Prasidh Krishna has the potential to play ODIs and should be backed completely.""Arshdeep is a great and bright
Prasidh has the potential to perform on the big stage," Nayar further told TimesofIndia.com.
