'He will certainly be wondering what did he do wrong': Gavaskar questions India player's omission for New Zealand series
There were a few surprise call-ups and some expected snubs as India's 16-member squad for the three T20I series against New Zealand was announced on Tuesday.
There were a few surprise call-ups and some expected snubs as India's 15-member squad for the three T20I series against New Zealand was announced on Tuesday. The squad marked maiden call-ups for Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan, whereas the likes of Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy were ignored.
Among those to be left out is leg-spinner Rahul Chahar. While Chahar failed to make the cut, Yuzvendra Chahal is back in the mix. Commenting on Chahar's omission from the squad, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that the spinner will certainly wonder about the reason behind his absence, adding that he only one opportunity in the T20 World Cup in UAE.
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“I am pretty certain that Rahul Chahar would be wondering what he has done that he's not in this 16 that has been announced. He was good enough to be in the 15 for the World Cup. He got one opportunity in which he gave away 7.5 runs an over. So he will be certainly wondering what did he do wrong. I hope that somebody from the selection committee would tell him the reason [why] he's out of this squad,” said Gavaskar during an interaction with Sports Today.
Chahar despite been picked ahead of much-experienced Chahal made a single appearance in the T20 World Cup against Namibia in a dead rubber, in which he conceded 30 runs in his four-over quota.
Chahar saw a significant dip in his bowling in the second-leg of the IPL played in UAE, where the spinner could only manage two wickets from four encounters. In the India leg he had scalped 11 wickets from seven matches.
Meanwhile, a host of senior players including former skipper Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and others have been rested for the series.
India's T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj