"They have been put in cold storage" - Aakash Chopra on Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Chahar not being picked for the T20Is vs West Indies
Aakash Chopra has questioned the exclusion of Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy from Team India's squad for the T20I series against West Indies.
Chahar and Chakravarthy were part of the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2021. While the former got to play just one match, the latter featured in three encounters during the tournament.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra reflected on Team India's bowling lineup for the upcoming limited-overs series against West Indies. He said the following about Chahar and Chakravarthy's omission:
"The big takeaways are that the same selection committee had picked the team for the T20 World Cup and that had Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy. They have been put in cold storage. It was said that Rahul was not available for the last series but now there is no discussion about him."
While hoping that Ravi Bishnoi gets better treatment, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that the leg-spinner might not get a game. Chopra observed:
"Ravi Bishnoi is suddenly the flavor of the month and I really hope he gets the full opportunity and is not left out quickly like Rahul Chahar. But the squad has four spinners, so Ravi Bishnoi might not get a chance."
Really happy for Ravi Bishnoi, his maiden call for Indian team in the ODIs and T20I Series against West Indies. He deserves it, because the way he performed in domestic cricket and his recent Performances in Vijay Hazare, SMAT and IPL 2021 was Outstanding.
Aakash Chopra also expressed happiness about Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal's reunion in ODI cricket. However, he questioned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for not sharing the reason behind Ravichandran Ashwin's exclusion.
"Fast-bowling all-rounders are being invested in" - Aakash Chopra
Speaking about the seam-bowling department, Aakash Chopra pointed out that the selectors have shown faith in all-rounders. He elaborated:
"Fast-bowling all-rounders are being invested in. Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar's names in the squad are also being put in such a place where it seems they are considered as all-rounders and not just pure bowlers."
The 44-year-old termed Bhuvneshwar Kumar's exclusion from the ODI side an interesting development. Chopra explained:
"Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not there in the ODI team. It's an interesting one that five fast bowlers are there but Bhuvneshwar Kumar's name is not there in those five even when Shami and Bumrah have been rested. That's a big takeaway."
So Bhuvneshwar Kumar is no longer being considered for longer formats like ODI and tests. Looks like the BCCI are losing faith in him and he might also not make it to the T20 worldcup 2022 squad.
Aakash Chopra concluded by highlighting that T Natarajan, who has given a decent account of himself in T20I cricket, has been totally forgotten.