New Delhi: After India announced the squad of the Asia Cup on Monday, Yuzvendra Chahal has a cryptic response on not being selected for the team.
Chahal took his X (formerly Twitter) and shared a tweet of the "Sunrise" emoji.
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, Team India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar said, "Axar Patel has done really well. He can bat too. Kuldeep Yadav has had a fantastic run to this point. So someone had to miss out. Kuldeep is currently a little ahead of him (Chahal)."
Skipper Rohit 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 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."
"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.
squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna. (ANI)
