Virat Kohli admits dropping Yuzvendra Chahal from the T20 World Cup squad was a challenging call to take. Rahul Chahar has bowled well in the last couple of years and would be ideal for the UAE condition, mentioned Kohli.

When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 there were few decisions that took everyone by surprise. Yuzvendra Chahal was the most notable absentee from the 15-men squad as Rahul Chahar was preferred over him.

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Kohli believes Chahar has bowled well in the last few IPL seasons and his performance against Sri Lanka and England were excellent. He admits it was a challenging call to take.

“It was a challenging call but we decided to back Rahul Chahar for a reason. He has bowled amazingly well over the last couple of years in the IPL. A guy who bowls with pace, he did really well in Sri Lanka and against England at home as well, he was someone who bowled those difficult overs,” he said.

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Kohli further stressed the importance of bowling with pace rather than giving the ball air in the UAE condition.

“We believe going on in this tournament, the wickets are going to get slower and slower, so guys who bowl with pace will be able to trouble the batters as compared to those who give it air. Rahul definitely has those strengths naturally as a leg-spinner. He is someone who always attacks the wickets, that is the factor that tilted the thing in favour of him. Picking a World Cup is always tricky and you cannot always have everyone in that squad,” he added.

India’s campaign in the T20 World Cup will undergo against Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai.