‘Here we go again’ - Yuzvendra Chahal reacts after long-awaited ODI comeback

Despite being successful in both domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League, Yuzvendra Chahal’s name was missing from the national squad for a significant amount of time. Leading up to the ODI World Cup 2023, Chahal was a regular in the team along with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. However, as the tournament drew closer, Axar Patel was favoured ahead of him while Ravichandran Ashwin later came into the picture. The selectors completely sidelined Chahal, which made a lot of headlines.

The wrist-spinner also failed to make it to the T20I squad for the five-match series against Australia, which raised quite a few eyebrows. While the senior spinners were rested for the series, Chahal was expected to make a comeback to the team but was not named in the squad. However, after a long wait, the 33-year-old has made his return to the ODI squad versus South Africa and seems to be ready for the challenge.

Sharing his readiness to represent India once again, Chahal wrote ‘Here we go again’ on his Instagram, which went viral on social media. The cricketer was waiting for an opportunity for quite some time now and is ready to finally play an ODI game after almost 11 months. 

Meanwhile, Chahal’s comeback is extremely significant as it indicates that the spinner is in the race for the upcoming T20 World Cup in 2024. However, even though he hasn’t made it to the T20I squad yet, but if he manages to put up a good show in South Africa, the cricketer can make his return to the scheme of things. 

Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav are ahead of him in the T20I set-up but a lot can change in the coming future. The bilateral series and the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be extremely important for Chahal, as he is yet to represent India in any T20 World Cup matches. As far as ODI cricket is concerned, Chahal is once again set to reunite with Kuldeep Yadav.