Yuzvendra Chahal put in impressive performances during the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which led to many questioning his omission from India’s T20 World Cup 2021 squad.
Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja were the spin options for India in the T20 World Cup. Spinners, wrist spinners especially, had a massive impact in the recently-concluded tournament, which Australia won for the first time. The top two highest wicket-takers in the competition were both spinners — Wanindu Hasaranga and Adam Zampa.
Yuzvendra Chahal: Rashid Khan Is In A Different League
But Yuzvendra Chahal is of the opinion that one spinner is head and shoulders above the rest and in a different league altogether.
“Rashid Khan is in a different league. I believe he is a cut above the rest like we used to talk about Muralidharan sir or Shane Warne sir. My calling card is mind game. I don’t try fancy variations. I back whatever variations I have,” Yuzvendra Chahal said in an interview.
Rashid Khan of Afghanistan picked up 8 scalps at an economic rate of 6.1 in the T20I World Cup. Rashid Khan has 93 scalps in 76 games in IPL, averaging 20.55 at an economic rate of 6.33- the best in IPL history.
Yuzvendra Chahal was left out of the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2021, and he wasn’t named in the reserves as well, owing to his poor form in the last six months. Even in phase one of IPL 2021 in India, Yuzvendra Chahal could pick up just 4 wickets in 6 games at a high bowling average and never looked in a good rhythm.
However, he started to get better in the series against Sri Lanka and has been a revelation since the start of the UAE phase of IPL 2021. Yuzvendra Chahal has picked up 14 wickets in 8 games in UAE with an excellent economic rate. In his international career thus far, the 30-year old has bagged 97 and 63 wickets in 56 ODIs and 49 T20Is, respectively apart from 139 scalps in 114 IPL games.
Yuxzvendra Chahal Felt Down For 2-3 Days After His Surprising Axe For 2021 T20I World Cup
Speaking about his exclusion, Yuzvendra Chahal said he felt “really bad” and was feeling “down for two-three days”. But encouragement from his family and fans helped him overcome the tough period.
“I was not dropped in four years and then I got dropped for such a marquee event. I felt really bad. I was down for two-three days. But then I knew the second leg of the IPL was still around the corner.”
“I went back to my coaches and spoke to them a lot. My wife and family were constantly encouraging me. My fans kept putting out motivational posts. That buoyed me. I decided to back my strengths and overcome my confusion. I couldn’t have sulked for long because that would have impacted my IPL form,” said the India spinner.
During the T20 World Cup, India persisted with mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, but he could not replicate his performances in domestic tournaments on the international stage going wicketless in 3 games. Rahul Chahar got a solitary game but did nothing of note.
After being overlooked for the first two games, both of which India lost, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was finally brought into the playing XI after a hiatus of 4 years in T20Is and was the standout spinner for Team India in the three matches he played in the Super 12 stage.
Yuzvendra Chahal, though, is back in the reckoning after being included in the T20I squad for the upcoming home series against World Cup finalists New Zealand. India play three T20Is against New Zealand on November 17, 19, and 21.