'Yuzvendra Chahal was not dropped from the Indian squad because he did not do well…': Imran Tahir's eye-opening truth

It's been almost a year since Yuzvendra Chahal last played an ODI for India, and nearly five months since he last featured in a T20I. Chahal's disappearance from India's limited-overs squad is a mystery in itself, quite like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's return to T20I set-up. Once India's leading spinner in ODIs and T20Is, Chahal quickly fell behind in the pecking order and this downward spiral began in August 2022, when the leg-spinner did not make the cut for India's Asia Cup squad. He travelled to Australia for the T20 World Cup but did not play a single game. This year too, Chahal was axed from India's ODI squad, missed the World Cup at home.

Almost spending a year in the wilderness, Chahal was back in India's ODI squad for the three-match series against South Africa, but was again benched for all games and didn’t even feature in the squad for the Afghanistan T20Is. As for why he was dropped in the first place, former South Africa spinner Imran Tahir weighed in, saying that Chahal getting snubbed had nothing to do with his poor form or something, but due to the fact that his Kul-Cha partner Kuldeep Yadav rose through the ranks and put in a string of impressive performances.

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"I don't think (Yuzvendra) Chahal is not bowling well. For me, he is bowling good. Chahal was not dropped because he did not do well, got dropped as Kuldeep (Yadav) went a step ahead. He did well with (Ravindra) Jadeja and India found the right balance. Chahal should start afresh because Kuldeep grabbed the opportunity with both hands and now Chahal should wait for his. He is a wonderful bowler and will surely come back," Tahir, a leg-spinner himself, told PTI.

Kuldeep vs Chahal

When Chahal was left out of India's squad for the Asia Cup, captain Rohit Sharma said that India wanted someone who could bat at No. 8 and 9. But it wasn't as if Kuldeep was a game-changer with the bat. Although the skipper assured that the World Cup door wasn't closed on Chahal, he did eventually miss the bus, with Ravichandran Ashwin surprisingly emerging out of nowhere and getting the nod ahead of him when Axar Patel was ruled out due to injury.

Kuldeep's stocks, as Tahir pointed out, rose exponentially in his second-coming. Under the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid era, Kuldeep's career enjoyed a second wind and he made a mark in almost every tournament he bowled in. In the Asia Cup 2023, Kuldeep rocked Pakistan with a five-wicket-haul and contributed with 4/43 against Sri Lanka to finish the tournament with nine wickets. Once he did so, his place in the team for the World Cup was certain. Even there, he picked 15 wickets and was second only to Ravindra Jadeja as the Indian spinner with most dismissals.