Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra spoke about the omission of Yuzvendra Chahal from the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. He pointed out that despite his good performances, the former cricketer was dropped from the Indian team.
India’s national cricket team announcer Yuzvendra Chahal has been dropped from the squad completely and it’s fair to say that his return now seems a long way off. From being one of the biggest match winners to nowhere near the scene, he witnessed a major decline.
Yuzvendra Chahal has played and taken 121 wickets at an average of 27.13 in 69 ODIs
Yuzvendra Chahal, who played a vital role for India in the ICC World Cup 2019, has not played a single ODI for the team since January 2023. He was not even part of the ICC World Cup 2023 squad and now he has not been named in the ICC squad Champions Trophy 2025.
Yuzvendra Chahal has a great record in ODIs. The leg-spinner has picked 121 wickets at an average of 27.13 in 69 ODI innings. In the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad, India have picked four spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.
His file is closed – Aakash Chopra on Yuzvendra Chahal
But Aakash Chopra said picking Yuzvendra Chahal in the squad would be a step backwards as he was out of the lineup for a long time. He was, however, amazed at the manner in which the leg-runner was dismissed despite a good record. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he said:
“The case of Yuzi Chahal is interesting. He last played in January 2023. So it’s been two years for him. It’s interesting because Bhuvi would have been expensive and wouldn’t have taken wickets in the last 10 matches before being dropped, but Yuzi Chahal’s figures are also very good. He scored a lot of goals and did well all the time.”
“However, he’s completely done. His file is closed. I have no idea why they did that. Having said that, since it’s been two years since he was closed, Yuzi has no place here either because as soon as you suddenly pick him out of the blue, it will considered a step backward.”
If someone is not in the ODI line-up for three years, how can he come? – Aakash Chopra on Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Aakash Chopra also felt that Bhuvneshwar Kumar could not have been picked as he had not played in the format since 2022. He stressed that three years is a long gap and bringing him back into the team would be a step backwards. He added:
“The last ODI that Bhuvneshwar Kumar played was in January 2022. He has not played ODI cricket since then. If someone is not in the ODI line-up for three years, how can he come? Three years is a long time.
“If he hadn’t been part of the team for three years, you would have been just abusing the selectors if they had kept him in the team. Then it would have been seen as a step backwards compared to what happened with your other fast bowlers. bowlers to go back to Bhuvi, so that there was no room here.”
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