The exclusion of Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal from the T20 World Cup 2021 squad has been the talk of the town ever since the squad has been selected, and former Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh is optimistic about his chances to make it into the squad, given all the teams have time until October 10 to revise their squads.

Harbhajan Singh, while reacting to one of Chahal’s tweets, wrote,” You have given ur best as always. keep it up. and make sure u keep bowling the right pace… Not too slow OK… still hoping to see you in team India for T20 World Cup.. Champion bowler”.

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Chahal’s exclusion from the squad had left many surprised for he has been one of the crucial cogs of the Indian bowling line-up for a while now. However, a slight dip in the form in the few months preceding the squad announcement meant he was left behind in the race against the likes of Rahul Chahar and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy.

You have given ur best as always.. keep it up.. and make sure u keep bowling the right pace 😝.. Not too slow OK..still hoping to see you in team India for T20 World Cup.. Champion bowler 👍 https://t.co/ZOhxlNsmhv

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 5, 2021

India’s squad has other spin options in all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Ravichandran Ashwin, who has made a comeback to the limited-overs squad after 2017. Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal is having a phenomenal outing in the UAE leg of the tournament, where he has scalped 10 wickets in five fixtures to make a case for his inclusion in the team.

When asked to reveal the reason behind preferring Chahar over Chahal, chief selector Chetan Sharma had said: “Yuzvendra Chahal’s name was discussed. But we 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.”

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Although, former chief selector MSK Prasad reckons that Yuzvendra Chahal must have been included in the team. He said, “I think he is our best T20 bowler in terms of wickets. Fortunately, or unfortunately, what the selectors must have thought is the competition between Rahul Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal. On flat wickets like in Bangalore, he (Chahal) has never disappointed his captain Virat and he’s always given you wickets.”

He further added, “If you see his performance in the last year, year and a half, there is a little dip in his performance. Rahul Chahar on the other hand has played an important role in winning back-to-back IPL titles for Mumbai Indians. Probably that went on Chahar’s favor.”