One of the big concerns veterans and experts had made after India's disappointing T20 World Cup exit in the semi-final was the absence of Yuzvendra Chahal in the team's playing XI. Unlike the 2021 edition, India had picked him in the squad, but this time missed out on the XI. He was among the only two players in the Indian team to not get a game time, along with Harshal Patel. Captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid was immensely criticised for not getting Chahal in the XI and teammate Dinesh Karthik revealed why.
13 of India's 15-man squad had appeared in at least one of the matches for India in the T20 World Cup. But Chahal was not picked. Despite veterans and experts making his case ahead of every match, the management went ahead of Ashwin as their lead spinner owing to his batting abilities and Axar Patel as the second choice.
While Rohit and Dravid was slammed for picking Ashwin over Chahal, Karthik, during his conversation with Cricbuzz revealed that both the leggie and Harshal were made clear at the start of the tournament that they would make the XI only if conditions favoured their presence or else they might have to sit out the entire tournament.
“They didn't sulk once or get upset once because they were very sure. At the start of the tournament they were said that under these conditions we would be playing you otherwise it might be hard. So they were very aware and were preparing in such a way that when get an opportunity they will try and do their best but there might be a chance that they end up not playing. So when that clarity is there from the coach and captain it makes the job easier for the player because you just start looking inward and think okay what do I do to start preparing better. That is what they were doing and had they been given a chance they would have given their best. This is a very high intensity tournament. As mentioned, he played a lot of matches for India and he knows the feeling of being dropped,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“They didn't sulk once or get upset once because they were very sure. At the start of the tournament they were said that under these conditions we would be playing you otherwise it might be hard. So they were very aware and were preparing in such a way that when get an opportunity they will try and do their best but there might be a chance that they end up not playing. So when that clarity is there from the coach and captain it makes the job easier for the player because you just start looking inward and think okay what do I do to start preparing better. That is what they were doing and had they been given a chance they would have given their best. This is a very high intensity tournament. As mentioned, he played a lot of matches for India and he knows the feeling of being dropped,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Both the players are part of the three-match T20I series against New Zealand.