Yuzvendra Chahal is only legit wicket-taking option in India’s T20 World Cup squad, says Aakash Chopra

Team India on Monday announced their squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 and picked three spinners- Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, and Axar Patel- in their 15-man squad for the marquee tournament, which is scheduled to be held in Australia from 16 October.

Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra analysed the squad and asserted that among the three frontline spinners in the team, Chahal is the only genuine wicket-taking option for India.

“You have picked three spinners – an offspinner, a legspinner, and a left-arm spinner. So you have picked different-different options but Yuzi Chahal is the only legit wicket-taking option in T20 cricket,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Chopra also expressed his disappointment over the exclusion of chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and that young spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who has the potential to take wickets, was only selected for the reserve squad.

“Ravi Bishnoi was a tempting option available to you. You are not thinking about Kuldeep at all, which is slightly disappointing, but he could also have been a wicket-taking option. But you didn’t think about either of them,” Chopra said.

“It would be intriguing whether you will be able to play two out of the three spinners in the XI if you will be able to play either Axar or Ravi (Ashwin) together with Yuzi Chahal – that will be a huge one,” he added.

India’s T20 World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh.

Standby players: Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, and Deepak Chahar.