Danish Kaneria Says THIS Player Did Not Deserve To Be In India Squad For Asia Cup 2023

Kuldeep Yadav has fared better than his compatriot Yuzvendra Chahal in the last one year and BCCI selectors decided to pick him over the right-arm leggie for Asia Cup.

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. (Source: Twitter)

When the India squad for Asia Cup 2023 was announced, a major surprise came in the form of Yuzvendra Chahal's axing. In the 16-man squad for the six-nation tournament, Chahal's name was not the. The cricketer sent a cryptic post on X (formerly Twitter) to say that he will be back soon. Chahal has not had a good time with the ball in quite some time now. But more importantly, his spin-bowling partner Kuldeep Yadav has bowled, at the same time. Kuldeep has made the cut and it is expected that if all goes well in the Asia Cup, Kuldeep will be part of the India squad for the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 as well.

Many critics have slammed the decision made by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) while others have backed the decision to drop Chahal and pick Kuldeep, looking at the form. 

Among those who have said that dropping Chahal is the right call is former Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria, who played in 61 Tests and 18 ODIs. He was speaking on his YouTube channel and said that Chahal has been inconsistent and has been rightfully dropped. 

"Yuzvendra Chahal doesn't deserve to be in Team India right now. He has been very inconsistent. Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, has picked up wickets regularly and can be effective in the middle overs. The selectors took the right call by the going with Kuldeep over Chahal," said Kaneria.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said that picking Axar Patel over Chahal makes sense as the left-arm spinner provides the batting depth when he is featuring in the playing XI. To Axar's credit, he has not played consistenly for India and the selectors would want to keep him ready in case Ravindra Jadeja gets injured.

India will also take heart from the fact that KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer are back in the mix after recovering from injuries. The only concern for India will be their match fitness. Jasprit Bumrah looked fit during the Ireland T20Is, which is a massive gain for India ahead of the World Cup.