‘Why isn’t Yuzvendra Chahal playing’: Twitter reacts as the leggie misses out from India playing XI against Pakistan

The 32-year-old India National Cricket Team leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was not part of the team’s first XI in the  ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 encounter against Pakistan on Sunday, October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had won the toss and opted to field first in their 1st match of the ICC T20 World Cup against Pakistan.

Speaking at the toss the Indian skipper said, "We are going to the field first. Looks like a good pitch, it's always nice to bowl with overcast conditions. Think the ball will swing around a bit, and we need to take its advantage. Preparations have been good. We played a couple of practice games in Brisbane. Time to come out and enjoy ourselves now. We were expecting nothing less than this, hopefully, we'll entertain them (the crowd). We have seven batters, three seamers and two spinners."

However, premier leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was not named in the first XI of the side.

Twitter reacts as Yuzvendra Chahal misses out from India playing XI:

Ashwin. Liability in the field.
Chahal could’ve been fatal at the mcg with his flighted deliveries.
When will this disease of giving shockers like this in selection go away in icc tournaments? It’s a blunder

— ______poetic diary// (@Foxtrot_ca) October 23, 2022

I don't understand. India play chahal almost 90% of time in bilateral series only to drop him during major events.

— Sahil Parab (@SahilParab2001) October 23, 2022

Yuzi ?
Dropping yuzi is not good decision ....what do u think guys?

—  (@itsvish95) October 23, 2022

No chahal on Australian pitch. Bad decision 

— Anuj.Gupta (@Anujgupta112) October 23, 2022

Talking about Chahal, the premier leg-spinner is India’s joint-highest wicket-taker in T20Is alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 85 wickets under his belt.

Chahal had a great run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as he finished with 27 wickets to his name and won the purple cap. However, in international cricket, he has been highly inconsistent with his performances in recent times.

Also, Yuzvendra Chahal being named beyond the first XI might be an indication that Ravichandran Ashwin will be given preference over Chahal in the multi-nation tournament.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

Pakistan (Playing XI): Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Shan Masood, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah

READ| IND vs PAK T20 World Cup 2022 live score updates: Rohit wins toss, India to bowl first, check team news, scorecard