Team India’s 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup 2021 had many automatic selections and a couple of surprises too. While the inclusion of youngsters Varun Chakravarthy, Suryakumar Yadav and others who travelled to Sri Lanka was confirmed, the decision to recall R Ashwin after 4 years and dropping Yuzvendra Chahal left many surprised.
Given his experience, Chahal was expected to be India’s lead spinner in the ICC event. But he even failed to break into the top 15 and returned home following the 2nd half of IPL 2021, where he represented Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Chahal, who was part of India’s previous series before the T20 WC, has earned a recall and is now gearing up for the T20Is against New Zealand.
Before the start of the home season, Chahal has revealed that was down for 2-3 days following the snub. “I was not dropped in four years and then I got dropped for such a marquee event. I felt really bad. I was down for two-three days. But then I knew the second leg of the IPL was still around the corner. I went back to my coaches and spoke to them a lot,” he has told The Times of India.
Chahal was pipped by Chakravarthy and Chahar. The forme went wicketless in 3 fixtures while Chahar couldn’t take a wicket in the only game he played.
The leg-spinners played a key role in the success of their respective teams and it can be said that India missed the services of a senior leggie.
The Men in Blue kicked off their T20 WC 2021 campaign with two back-to-back defeats and crashed out from the league stage despite winning the next three matches.
Following the early exit from the tournament, India have entered e new era as Rohit Sharma has replaced Virat Kohli as the T20I skipper. Rahul Dravid has also taken over as the head coach of Team India for the next 2 years.