“Every Team Has Their Own Set Of Combinations” – Yuzvendra Chahal On Being Left Out India’s T20 World Cup Starting XI

Senior spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has opened up on why he was left out of India’s starting XI in the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. The Men in Blue crashed out of the tournament, losing to England in the semi-finals.

Ravichandran Ashwin was given the go-ahead for all their games in Australia. 13 of 15 players in the India squad were given a chance, and Chahal along with Harshal Patel were the only two players to miss out.

The Indian think tank received severe criticism for leaving out Yuzvendra Chahal from the playing XI despite being the best spinner in the side. The Haryana-born cricketer said that skipper Rohit Sharma informed him of this decision, and the spinner himself made peace with it after he saw Ashwin and Axar Patel performing well in the tournament.

“It’s not an individual game. Every team has their own set of combinations. And then I saw Ashwin and Axar performing well…those things happen in life. I just knew that if get an opportunity I have to be ready and coach and Rohit bhai had clarified that to me,” he said to India Today.

Incidentally, this is the second T20 World Cup in a row that Yuzvendra Chahal have not featured in. While he was not picked in the 2021 T20 World Cup squad in the UAE, Chahal was not included in the starting XI in this year’s event.

“I hope I can continue playing in the same manner” – Yuzvendra Chahal on his ODI World Cup aspirations

After missing out on two T20 World Cups, the veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is hopeful of being a part of the 2023 ODI World Cup at home.

“The 50-over World Cup is going to happen next. The last World Cup which I had played, in 2019, was also a 50-over World Cup. I don’t tend to think about all these stuff that much. For me, what matters is playing for India, that is my first goal. Now whether I am picked in the XI or not that is not in my hand. I hope I can continue playing in the same manner, get to play for my country and hope India become the champions in 2023,” he added.