'Thought Chahal was more...': Sanjay Manjrekar labels India star as 'surprise inclusion' for SA series

Overlooked for the 2023 edition of the ICC World Cup, senior spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has made his return to the white-ball setup for India's first away tour after the 50-over spectacle. Runners-up in the 2023 edition of the ICC World Cup, Team India is touring South Africa for a multi-format series against the Proteas. After the three-match T20I series, India will meet South Africa for three One Day Internationals (ODIs) in the rainbow nation.

Sharing his squad assessment ahead of the South Africa series, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was surprised to see spinner Chahal returning to the ODI side of the Men In Blue. Mentioning the workload management of the Indian players, Manjrekar said that he is looking forward to seeing pacer Deepak Chahar make his return after a long injury layoff. The seamer missed out on the fifth and final T20I against Australia in Bengaluru. Chahar last played an ODI against Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in 2022.

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'Chahal is a surprise inclusion'

"I like it. Again this is workload management, but I am excited with the fact that Deepak Chahar is back because I like him as a cricketer. Avesh Khan gets another opportunity," Manjrekar told Star Sports. The former India batter opined that pacer Mukesh Kumar is a 'sturdy and dependable' bowler. Talking about Chahal's return, the ex-cricketer observed that the Indian spinner is a surprise inclusion in ODIs.

According to Manjrekar, spinner Chahal is more suited in the shortest format. "I believe Mukesh Kumar is a sturdy and dependable bowler, he has come. Chahal is a surprise inclusion. I thought Chahal was more your bowler for T20 cricket but there they have got somebody like a (Ravi) Bishnoi," he added. India's spin department features the likes of Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal for the South Africa ODIs. The visitors have picked Sundar, Kuldeep, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Bishnoi for the T20I series.

India's squad for T20I series:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.

India's squad for ODI series:

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar.