'Yuzvendra Chahal has not played enough matches' - Venkatapathy Raju points out reasons why leg-spinner missed out on Sri Lanka tour

In a recent discussion, former Indian left-arm orthodox, Venkatapathy Raju, addressed the widely-debated topic of Yuzvendra Chahal’s exclusion from both white-ball squads for India’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Raju acknowledged that while Chahal was undoubtedly an exceptional bowler (leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is with 96 wickets in 79 innings), the current emphasis has shifted towards all-rounders. Consequently, players like Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were preferred over Chahal, who is a specialist bowler. Raju noted that with these aforementioned southpaws firmly integrated into the team, it was exceedingly challenging for any specialist bowler to secure a place in the playing XI.

"You should always believe in yourself. Chahal has been a brilliant bowler. But unfortunately, we look more into all-rounders. That's why we had Jadeja, then we had Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. If Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are part of the team, you can't keep them away from the eleven," stated Raju, as quoted by The Times Of India.

Raju also noted that while Chahal is undoubtedly proficient in his area of expertise, his omission is largely due to insufficient game time. He emphasized that concerns about age or a decline in performance were not factors, as Chahal is still capable of excelling in key matches and reasserting his place. However, Raju pointed out that with a wealth of talented players to choose from, the selectors now face a challenging dilemma.

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"Yuzi is a brilliant bowler, but he missed out as he has not played enough matches. There is nothing like getting old or anything is far away from you. You can always play good matches, come back, and perform. Now, the biggest headache for all the selectors is that there is so much variety now," mentioned Raju.

Hopefully, he plays a lot of domestic cricket and comes back strong: Raju on Chahal

Acknowledging Chahal as a match-winner, Raju reiterated the issue of insufficient match practice and expressed hope that the astute spinner would participate in domestic cricket and return with renewed strength. 

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"In that variety to pick someone, it takes real guts and Chahal is a proven match-winner, but the only thing is little lack of match practice. Hopefully, he plays a lot of domestic cricket and comes back strong,” added Raju.

Notably, Chahal was among the four spinners who traveled to the Americas for T20 WC in June, and he could not appear in a single game for India throughout the tournament. Furthermore, his most recent domestic appearance for his state, Haryana, dates back to December 2023.