India vs South Africa: MSK Prasad reacts on Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav’s omission for T20I series

Indian selectors have come up with the 15-man squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against South Africa at home. While veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni was unavailable for the second series in a row, spin twins Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were also excluded as well. The duo was not there in the T20I squad in the West Indies either. India won the series against the Caribbeans 3-0.

While Dhoni’s exclusion still had reasoning for the 38-year-old is no more an automatic choice for the national team especially because of his slow batting, exclusion of the Kul-Cha pair surprised a few especially when the upcoming series is in home conditions. The selectors, however, cited the plan to build a strong reserve as the reason.

Chief selector MSK Prasad was quoted as saying by India Today, “We are just trying to build a pool of spinners. The likes of Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya, and Washington Sundar had done well in the last series and they deserve another go.”

Chahal picked a fifer against South Africa A

Chahal would rue the fact that he could not make it despite being in good touch. After having a decent World Cup in England in May-July, the wrist spinner picked up five wickets for India ‘A’ in the first unofficial ODI against South Africa ‘A’ in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday to help his side script a 69-run victory. Chahal has played in 31 T20Is so far to pick 46 wickets with the best figure of 6 for 25.

Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who is one of the two Indian bowlers to have five-wicket hauls in all the three formats, however, has a less happy time. After having failed to pick enough wickets in the Indian Premier League and also the World Cup, he picked three wickets against the West Indies in the ODIs and three wickets against the West Indies ‘A’ in a tour game.

India and South Africa will play in three T20Is starting in Dharmsala on September 15. The next two games are in Mohali (September 18) and Bengaluru (September 22). The Proteas will be led in the series by their wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock.

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