“I felt really bad. I was down for two-three days”: Yuzvendra Chahal expresses disappointment over exclusion from Team India squad for 2021 T20 World Cup

Yuzvendra Chahal expresses disappointment and opens up on his exclusion from Team India squad for the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2021

After team India’s poor outing in the recently concluded 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE, team India’s leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has finally opened up on how he coped up with the news of his exclusion from the World Cup squad.

Chahal, has exclaimed as to how he came to terms with the unexpected news, especially after being an integral part of the team’s bowling line-up in White-ball Cricket for the past four years.

He also, laid stress on how his family, friends, and fans continuously backed him up post the selection snub, and how they helped him not lose focus from the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Yuzvendra Chahal expresses disappointment post selection snub

Chahal’s non-inclusion from the T20 World Cup squad had raised quite some eyebrows of the fans and experts of the game, including the likes of spinners like Harbhajan Singh and South Africa’s Imran Tahir.

Speaking on the matter himself before the start of the India-New Zealand T20I series on November 17, Chahal said, “I was not dropped in four years and then I got dropped for such a marquee event. I felt really bad. I was down for two-three days. But then I knew the second leg of the IPL was still around the corner. I went back to my coaches and spoke to them a lot”.

Chahal 💔 pic.twitter.com/tgFbY79mCW

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) November 15, 2021

Exclaiming as to how his family, friends, and fans on social media were his constant support throughout, Chahal said, “My wife and family were constantly encouraging me. My fans kept putting out motivational posts. That buoyed me. I decided to back my strengths and overcome my confusion. I couldn’t have sulked for long because that would have impacted my IPL form”.

Chahal was a regular feature for Team India in white ball Cricket until a year ago, but some inconsistent performances before the ongoing T20 World Cup, including the Indian leg of the IPL meant that it was another leg-spinner Rahul Chahar who made the cut ahead of him.

Rahul Chahar was picked because of the extra pace he offered through the air (as per BCCI’s selection committee).

Chahal bounced back impressively to pick 14 wickets in eight matches in the UAE leg, at an economy rate of 7.06 while Chahar struggled, managing only two wickets in four games at an economy rate of 7.73.

Chahal, however, has now been picked for the T20I series against New Zealand which begins from November 17 in Jaipur while Chahar has been dropped after the T20 World Cup, where he played only one game, against Namibia.