3 ways Kent County stint will benefit Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal unfortunately missed out on making the cut for India's ODI World Cup 2023 squad. While there has been a lot of debate on this, the truth is that Chahal will have to adjust to the reality of this omission.
However, not all is lost as Kent has roped in the veteran leg-spinner for a brief stint in the ongoing season of the County Championship. With injury woes in the Kent camp, they have availed Chahal's services for their remaining three games this season, including two at home against Nottinghamshire and Lancashire and the third being an away encounter against Somerset.
Kent have already had Arshdeep Singh in their ranks in June-July and will have another Indian international in Yuzvendra Chahal playing three matches for them. On that note, let's take a look at three reasons why this is a good move for Chahal:
#3 Yuvendra Chahal will be away from the pressure of expectations
Yuzvendra Chahal's performances of late haven't been that consistent and it is one of the main reasons why he hasn't found a place in the World Cup squad. There has naturally been a bit of scrutiny after every average performance from him and that is bound to affect his confidence.
However, at Kent, Chahal will be able to bowl without any pressure of millions of impusive fans watching him. He will certainly be focusing on playing his cricket and a good few outings could maybe help him deal with the pain of missing out on the World Cup.
#2 Dream of playing Test cricket
Chahal hasn't played any red-ball cricket for India and has been pretty vocal about how he wants to make that dream come true someday. He did play a couple of first-class games for Haryana last season, picking up three wickets.
In 33 first-class games overall, Yuzvendra Chahal has picked up 87 wickets and this is an opportunity for him to reignite his red-ball dream. If he is able to make an impression in these three games for Kent, one can never know what may just click.
#1 Outside chance of India comeback
While Yuzvendra Chahal has not been picked in the World Cup squad, he played the previous T20I series and can be in the plans for the upcoming T20 World Cup next year. Form across formats is something that the team management has weighed in while selection and the likes of Suryakumar Yadav are a big example.
So somewhere, Chahal will know that this is an opportunity for him to get back among the wickets and claim his regular spot in the white-ball setup. His spot in the T20I squad could also come under the scanner and that makes this County stint crucial.