Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh is disappointed with the exclusion of talented wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal from India’s squad for the ODI series against Australia and the Cricket World Cup 2023. The Indian team opted for Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad for the Australia ODIs since regular spinner Axar Patel is injured.

The former India spinner was shocked to see Chahal’s omission and went on to say that maybe he fought with someone or had said something to someone that affected his chances of getting into the side.

“Yuzvendra Chahal should have been here. He has not been given an opportunity. It is beyond my understanding. Either he has fought with someone or he has said something to someone, I don’t know. If we talk only about skill, his name should have been there in this team because a lot of Team India players are resting,” Harbhajan said on his official YouTube channel.

“First Washington Sundar, who wasn’t in the original Asia Cup squad, was called there. After that, a second player has been added for this series and that is R Ashwin. So somewhere or the other Team India are searching for off-spinners. They have probably realized their mistake that they haven’t picked an off-spinner in the team and that our bowlers can get into trouble if a lot of left-handers come in front of them. Why unnecessarily go through all this? It is beyond my understanding or they are going to make another mistake to rectify their earlier mistake,” he added.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced India’s squad for the three-match ODI series against Australia starting on September 22. Senior players of the side like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been rested for the first two matches with KL Rahul being appointed as the captain.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya and spinner Kuldeep Yadav were the other regular faces of the team who were asked to take a rest for the first two fixtures. Other than Ashwin, Washington Sundar was the other off-spinner who was picked in the team for all three ODIs. The Men in Blue will be locking horns with Australia in a three-match ODI series just ahead of the 50-over World Cup.  The series between India and Australia will be played in Mohali, Indore, and Rajkot.