With huge improvement in chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav's bowling and due to emergence of T20 specialist spinners like Ravi Bishnoi, star leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was snubbed from the Indian team for many months.His hopes of going to the USA and the West Inides looked bleak after he lost the annual retainship contract earlier in the year.
Chahal last played a T20I for India during their tour of the West Indies and the USA in July 2023 and the senior leg-spinner believes that his previous experience will come in handy in the World Cup. Chahal picked 5 wickets in 5 matches in the tour of West Indies and was dropped for the remainder of the season. The leg-spinner did not play the T20I series against Afghanistan earlier in the year.
However, Chahal didn't lose heart and sharpened the subtle nuances of spin bowling further. The leegie broke the door open for the Indian team by bowling brilliantly for his franchise Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
The veteran spinner recently became the first man to pick 200 wickets in the IPL. He has been in fine form in the 2024 season, picking13 wickets in nine matches. Though Chahal has conceded nine runs per over on an average, the leg-spinner has been a decisive part of Rajasthan's incredible winning run in IPL 2024.
Chahal was thrilled after returning to the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, saying that earning back a place in the senior national side has been his 'biggest achievement' in the recent past. According to Chahal, he considers the World Cup call-up a bigger landmark than his IPL heroics.
"We play IPL and domestic cricket to get into the Indian team and that is my biggest achievement," said Chahal after his selection into the Indian team for the marquee event.