T20 World Cup 2022 | Yuzvendra Chahal is the only legit wicket-taking option in spin department, asserts Aakash Chopra

India recently announced their 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia and that has triggered a debate around team selection. Mohammed Shami’s exclusion was surprising for many while a few opined that Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav should have been considered for the tournament. Many former cricketers have voiced their opinion and Aakash Chopra has also revealed his own team assessment. 

Chopra stated that Yuzvendra Chahal is the only wicket-taking option in the spin department while Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel are defensive options. 

"You have picked three spinners - an offspinner, a legspinner and a left-arm spinner. So you have picked different-different options but Yuzi Chahal is the only legit wicket-taking option in T20 cricket," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"The others are defensive options - make no mistake, that is the truth. You can see the numbers for the last 12 months, IPL included for both of them - Axar and Ravichandran Ashwin.”

Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav were overlooked by selectors for the showpiece event. Kuldeep was given the opportunity in only two T20Is in 2022 taking three wickets from them while Bishnoi has picked 16 wickets from 10 matches this year. Chopra believes that either of them would have been an attacking option and so they should have been considered. 

"Ravi Bishnoi was a tempting option available to you. You are not thinking about Kuldeep at all, which is slightly disappointing, but he could also have been a wicket-taking option. But you didn't think about either of them,” he explained.