Team India's squads for the Australia series have got everyone talking. The BCCI decided to go with a couple of squads to give some seniors enough time to recuperate before the World Cup for the first two ODIs against Australia while naming the World Cup team for the final game in Rajkot on Wednesday, September 27.
However, the glaring absentee from both squads is the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahal hasn't been in the best of forms in white-ball cricket of late and him being benched in all six ODIs before the Asia Cup was a sign of things to come. However, him not even being considered in the top 20-22 players is even more surprising which forced the former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to contemplate if he has done something wrong.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan thought out loud if Chahal has fought with someone or said something. "Yuzvendra Chahal ko hona chahiye tha par unko mauka nahi diya gaya hai aur yeh meri soch se toh pare hai. Ya toh Yuzvendra Chahal ki kahin kisi se ladai hui hai ya phir usne kahin kisi se kuch bol diya hai, ya aisi koi aur baat kar di hai. I don't know but dekhiye agar sirf skill ki baat kare toh unka naam bhi iss team mein hona chahiye tha. (Yuzvendra Chahal should have been here. He has not been given an opportunity. It is beyond my understanding. Either he has fought with someone or he has said something to someone, I don't know. If we talk only about skill, his name should have been there in this team because a lot of Team India players are resting)," he said.
KL Rahul will be leading the side in the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma. Apart from Rohit, the likes of Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav will also be missing the first two ODIs. However, despite the full-strength team not taking on Australia in the first two games, Harbhajan believed that they could come out on top.
“Team India have to continue the winning habit they developed in the Asia Cup. They have the ability to beat Australia as well. The team is slightly weak for the first two matches but I believe this slightly weak team can also come out on top against them,” he added.