On 21st August, India announced 17-men squad for the forth-coming Asia Cup. Ever since the announcement there is a talk about the omission of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal from the squad. Some of the experts questioned the omission of leg-spinner from the squad. However, former Indian Captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly defended the decision of picking Axar Patel over Yuzvendra Chahal.
Former Indian Captain said,
“They have picked Axar Patel ahead of (Yuzvendra) Chahal because of his batting. So I think it’s a good selection. Chahal can still come back if someone gets injured. This is a 17-member squad, two, in any case, will have to move out,“
Ganguly did say that if there is any injury then 33-year old Chahal can make a comeback to the squad.
Chahal was behind in the pecking order for the Asia Cup.
Chahal was in the squad for the West Indies series but was not given any game time. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindera Jadeja was picked ahead of him. With Kuldeep Yadav performing well in those matches, the left-arm unorthodox was the front runner for that spot leaving Chahal behind. However, Axar’s batting form over the last year prompted the selectors to go with him over Chahal.
Ganguly also talked about India vs Pak game.
Talking about India vs Pakistan game in the Asia Cup and then in World Cup. Pakistan placed at no. 2 and India at no. 3 in the ICC rankings. Ex-Indian captain say’s ranking doesn’t matter, whichever team plays well on the day will eventually win the game. However, Ganguly did praise, Pakistan’s pace bowling attack and termed them as one of the best in the world.
51 year old concluded by saying,
“Rankings don’t matter, who plays well on that day matters. Pakistan are a very good side. They have a very good bowling attack — Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf. They are a very balanced team. India is a strong side. It’s how you play on that particular day; there is no rocket science to it,”
Recently, we had some nail-biting games and the upcoming games also promises to be exciting ones. Both the teams are quite balanced and equally poised. Fans are looking forward for the arch-rivals to lock horns again.
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