India’s squad for the forthcoming England ODI series and the subsequent Champions Trophy was announced on Saturday (January 18). While most of the picks were on the expected lines, certain decisions of the team management met with some backlash from fans and experts.

Amid the debate, former opener Aakash Chopra has raised the curious case of wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, whose last ODI appearance for India was in January 2023.

Chopra accused the BCCI and the team management of ending Chahal's career for no apparent reason, arguing that the latter’s statistics were impressive even when he was sidelined from ODIs two years ago.

"Yuzvendra Chahal has been totally finished. His file has been closed. I have got no idea why they did that," said Chopra while speaking on his YouTube channel.

"It is an interesting case. He last played in January 2023. So it's been two years for him. His numbers are also very good. He has picked up a lot of wickets and was consistently doing well," he added.

Chahal has represented India in 72 ODIs, picking up 121 wickets at an average of 27.13. The leg-spinner didn’t feature in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25, and Chopra said that him not playing for India in the last two years meant he was never a contender for the Champions Trophy 2025 squad.

"Because it's been two years since it (Chahal's file) has been closed, there is no place for Yuzi also here because as soon as you suddenly pick him out of the blue, it will be seen as a regressive step," Chopra said.

India have picked three spin-bowling all-rounders in their Champions Trophy squad – Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Kuldeep Yadav is the lone specialist tweaker in the 15-member squad.

India will begin their Champions Trophy campaign on February 20 against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The ODI series against England, starting on February 2 in Nagpur, will be a final dress rehearsal for the Men in Blue ahead of the ICC tournament.