India announced its much-awaited squad for the Asia Cup 2023 in a press conference in Delhi. India captain Rohit Sharma and chief of national selectors Ajit Agarkar attended a conference on Monday and named the much-awaited squad. While the entry of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma made big headlines in the squad, Yuzvendra Chahal's exclusion raised the eyebrows of many.
Yuzvendra Chahal has hardly got any games in the entire year in the ODI format. He has played just two 50-over matches in 2023, one against Sri Lanka in January 2023 and the other against New Zealand in the later part of January 2023. Chahal was part of the West Indies squad but did not get a game as Kuldeep Yadav has leapfrogged his fellow in the scheme of things. Meanwhile, India captain Rohit Sharma opened up on the reason for Chahal's exclusion from the team.
Sharma stated the team could select only 17 players for Asia Cup and picking him could have meant dropping a pacer and the speedsters are likely to play a big part in the upcoming two months. "We couldn't get Chahal in as we had only 17 slots. Doors are not closed for anyone including Ravi Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar for the World Cup," Sharma said at the Press conference.
National selector Ajit Agarkar also opened up on the exclusion of Chahal, stating that we can fit only one wrist spinner and Kuldeep is ahead. "Terrific performer but we had to look at the balance of the team. To fit in two wrist spinners was difficult. We can fit only one wrist spinner. It's unfortunate for one to miss out and right now, Kuldeep is a bit ahead," Agarkar said.
