Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has expressed disappointment over the exclusion of pace-bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar from the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 squad, announced on Wednesday. Incidentally, the 15-member Indian squad for the mega event comprises only three specialist pacers – Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Mohammed Shami along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Deepak Chahar has been named among the three standby cricketers for the global T20 meet. While analysing the squad on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was might shocked to see ‘world record holder’ Chahar miss out on the final 15.

These are Deepak Chahar’s numbers. 20 wickets in 14 T20i @ 19.3 with an eco of 7.6 rpo. IPL numbers aren’t too dissimilar either. You can call me a little biased towards Deepak (I think I am 😊) but he’s got every right to feel disappointed. India is one fast-bowler shy, me feels pic.twitter.com/cluW6mHMX5

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 9, 2021

“There is neither Shardul Thakur nor Deepak Chahar – these are two huge exclusions. I have a lot of love for Deepak Chahar but you can see logically. He is the world record holder.”

“If you take any match of the IPL over the last two years, he has taken wickets. Despite that his name not being there, I am a little surprised,” Aakash Chopra said. 

Incidentally, Deepak Chahar has been MS Dhoni’s go-to man in the IPL and the all-rounder has delivered on most occasions. He has picked up 42 wickets over the last two-and-a-half seasons of the IPL.

Deepak Chahar should have been picked ahead of Mohammed Shami: Aakash Chopra

The Squad is Out! 🙌

What do you make of #TeamIndia for ICC Men's T20 World Cup❓ pic.twitter.com/1ySvJsvbLw

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 8, 2021

Speaking further, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Deepak Chahar should have been considered ahead of Mohammed Shami, who is currently in England for the five-match Test series.

“You could have picked Deepak Chahar ahead of Shami. You could have probably thought about Shardul as well because you wouldn’t have won the England T20 series if Shardul had not taken wickets. And his current form is rock-solid,” Chopra continued. 

“But before him, I would still say Deepak Chahar. He has taken more wickets than Bhuvi with the new ball, even more than Bumrah. I am not saying that he is a better bowler than them but if you want to give someone the new ball, you will want to go with Deepak Chahar among the three,” he signed off.