Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal's exclusion from India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup did raise eyebrows but chief selector Chetan Sharma justified the management decision by citing the need for spinners who can bowl "quick".
While Ravichandran Ashwin made a sensational comeback to the white-ball contingent, Chahal failed to find a place in the 15-member squad announced by the BCCI on Wednesday.
The leg-spinner, who was a part of the Indian contingent that toured Sri Lanka in July, was sidelined after Rahul Chahar's name was announced in the team's spin unit.
Ashwin, Chahar, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja were picked as five members who can contribute to India's spin force in the multi-team event.
"We have picked Rahul Chahar over Yuzi as we wanted someone who bowls fast and gets pace off the pitch. He also gets the ball to grip through the surface," Sharma said on Chahar's inclusion.
On Chakravarthy, a pure product of the Indian Premier League, Chetan said that he is still a surprise element for most teams across the world. "He is the mystery bowler and teams are not able to read him. He has bowled well in IPL and he will be a surprise package," Sharma explained.
The Virat Kohli-led side will start its T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai. India will then have matches against New Zealand (October 31), Afghanistan (November 3), and the two teams which will secure their places in the main tournament through qualifiers (on November 5 and November 8).
Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.
Standby players: Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.
