Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has shown surprise about neither Yuzvendra Chahal nor Varun Chakaravarthy being picked in India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against Zimbabwe as well. Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi are the only two frontline spinners who are added. Notably, the selectors recently picked the 15-member Indian squad for the five-match series to be played in Harare from July 6 under Shubman Gill as well.
Reflecting on the squad in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “It’s clear that guys who haven’t got a chance to play in the World Cup are there here. However, interestingly, Yuzi Chahal is not there. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is in the team, is there, and Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed, who are in the reserves, are there, but Yuzi Chahal is not there. Interestingly, they have kept only two spinners. Neither Yuzi Chahal nor Varun Chakaravarthy is there. Varun Chakaravarthy had a very good IPL. He has even put an Instagram story – ‘I wish I had a paid PR agency’. That hurts. You see a lot of upside for Washington Sundar but he is stuck in the wrong franchise. Ravi Bishnoi is a part of this team.”
However, Aakash Chopra added Harshit Rana should have also been picked in the seam-bowling department as well. With 19 scalps in 11 innings, Rana played a key role in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning run in IPL 2024 as well.
He shared, “After that, there are four fast bowlers. I feel Harshit Rana should have been there but he is not part of this team. Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar and Tushar Deshpande are there. I am a little surprised that they haven’t thought about Harshit Rana now, which means the selectors are going to wait and want to see a bit more of him, It will be interesting to see who will open because they have picked four openers – Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma. How will all four play? You will maximum be able to play three. It will be worth watching who will be those three. One out of Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel will play. You can play both but then how will you settle the batting order?”
“You have to give a place to Rinku Singh. You have Nitish Reddy, who can give a little fast bowling and batting, as a good shadow option for Hardik Pandya. Again rewarded for his phenomenal IPL performance. Riyan Parag has also been rewarded,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
