'Pure match winner' - Harbhajan Singh surprised at Yuzvendra Chahal exclusion from India's World Cup squad

Harbhajan Singh expressed his surprise at Yuzvendra Chahal being dropped from India's ODI World Cup 2023 squad.

Calling Chahal a "pure match winner", Harbhajan seemed pretty bewildered on the the bowler being left out of the scheme of things.

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"Surprise not to see @yuzi_chahal in the World Cup squad for Team India. pure Match winner," Harbhajan wrote on X.

Surprise not to see @yuzi_chahal in the World Cup squad for Team India. pure Match winner

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 5, 2023

Why Yuzvendra Chahal is not in India's ODI World Cup 2023 squad?

During the squad announcement for the Asia Cup 2023, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar said India wanted to add depth to their batting line-up.

"(Chahal is) Terrific performer but we had to look at the balance of the team. To fit in two wrist spinners was difficult. We can fit only one wrist spinner. It’s unfortunate for one to miss out and right now, Kuldeep is a bit ahead," Agarkar said.

On Tuesday, India captain Rohit Sharma asserted that this was the best team they could have chosen:

"We explored every conceivable avenues and possibilities to assemble the strongest team. It's inevitable that some players will miss out on World Cup selection. With the wealth of talent available in India, narrowing it down to just 15 players is a challenging task. We believe we have selected the best possible squad of 15," Sharma said.

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India's ODI World Cup 2023 squad

India made two notable omissions in the form of Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna, who were in the Asia Cup 2023 squad. The rest of the unit remains the same.