Spinners Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakaravarthy, who were part of the T20 World Cup 2021 squad, haven't been added to India's T20I squad against New Zealand. The BCCI announced the 16-man squad, led by Rohit Sharma, on Wednesday (November 10) and brought back Yuzvendra Chahal.
India cricket great Sunil Gavaskar found it a good move to include Chahal into the squad and called him a proven performer. However, he wasn't pleased by the decision to leave out Chahar and Chakaravarthy for the T20I series.
"They (Yuzvendra Chahal and Deepak Chahar) have been proven performers, they have got the experience as well. Them coming back into the team will certainly benefit the team," Gavaskar told India Today.
"But Rahul Chahar will be wondering what he has done that he is not in the 16 that have been announced for the New Zealand series. He was good enough to be in the World Cup squad, he got one opportunity, gave away 7 and a half runs an over. He will certainly be wondering what he did wrong. And I hope the selection committee will actually tell him what he did is the reason that he is out of the squad.
"Even Varun Chakravarthy needs to be told why he was not picked in the squad. Unless of course, he is not fit which we don't know about, then he must be told. Only if somebody tells them the reason, they can go back and get better and then come back stronger. That will be the only way Indian cricket will get stronger," Gavaskar added.
The BCCI selection committee has added Rahul to India A squad for their tour of South Africa, which begins on November 23. The leggie got to play only one match in the T20 World Cup 2021, and he returned with the figures of 0/30 against Namibia.
Chakaravarthy was included in three matches but the mystery spinner went wicketless, conceding 0/33 against Pakistan, 0/23 versus New Zealand, and 0/15 in the match against Scotland.
The T20I series against New Zealand, who have named a full-strength squad, starts from November 17, followed by 2 Test matches.
(With India Today Inputs)
