Yuzvendra Chahal has been ignored for Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts by Haryana as they face Bengal in their preliminary quarter-final clash. The defending champions have taken the decision to leave out their ace leg-spinner looking at the future. They are willing to groom a young spinner Parth Vats and the same has been communicated to Chahal.
Chahal is currently dealing with a personal crisis with speculations of his divorce from his wife Dhanashree doing the rounds. However, the HCA official has cleared that the decision to drop him is purely a cricketing call and has nothing to do with his personal life. “We have made this decision in consultation with him, as we aim to groom a few youngsters with an eye on the future. Parth Vats, a leg-spin all-rounder, is the player we are introducing at this stage,” a Haryana Cricket Association official said according to Cricbuzz.
Chahal has not played a single game this season but he was Haryana’s leading wicket-taker with 18 wickets last season during their title triumph. Chahal’s downfall is startling as he was once the lead spinner for India in both ODIs and T20Is,
He played 72 ODIs and 80 T20Is after making his debut in 2016 and picked 121 and 96 wickets respectively in the two formats. The leg-spinner last played for India in August 2023 in a T20I against the West Indies while his final ODI appearance came against New Zealand in Indore in January 2023. He is unlikely to be considered for the Champions Trophy too having not played domestic cricket. Chahal’s final List-A appearance was for Kent against Northants in the One-Day Cup in England in August last year and picked up five wickets for just 14 runs.
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However, the re-emergence of Kuldeep Yadav and India preferring the bowlers who can bat a bit has led to Chahal falling down in the pecking order in the last 12-18 months.
