The wiry 26-year-old, who claimed a career best six-wicket (6-44) haul for Haryana in a Ranji match against Hyderabad, last week, was happy that his teammates Mishra and Yadav are away on national duty
Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal
He finished this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) season as the second-highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), his four wickets turned the tide for India A in the final (September 4, 2015) as the Manish Pandey-led side sealed the Quadrangular series Down Under against Australia A— and then during the tour of Zimbabwe in June this year, he was the wrecker-in-chief featuring in a second string Indian bowling attack picking up six wickets in the three one-dayers.
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Even after this recent success, Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal failed to make the cut in the one-day international squad announced for the first three ODIs against New Zealand. The team picked by the new selection panel headed by MSK Prasad decided to rest spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja keeping in mind the gruelling home season and included Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav and Axar Patel as spinners in the ranks.
Mishra is on a great comeback trail, often seeing himself among wickets. With 18 wickets in a five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in 2013, Mishra equalled former India pacer Javagal Srinath's world record for the most wickets in a bilateral ODI series. Patel too picked up three wickets and registered an unbeaten 109 runs playing for Gujarat in a Ranji Trophy match this season against Baroda on October 6.
'Selection not in my hand'
However, Yadav, who is yet to make his first appearance in international cricket, wasn't even featured in the India A Quadrangular series, although he was effective in the unofficial Test series in Australia, where he picked seven wickets at an economy rate of 22.50. "Selection is not in my hands, but I was hoping to get picked," Chahal, who wishes to learn coach Anil Kumble's variations if picked, told mid-day on Friday.
The wiry 26-year-old, who claimed a career best six-wicket (6-44) haul for Haryana in a Ranji match against Hyderabad, last week, was happy that his teammates Mishra and Yadav are away on national duty.
"It's good that Mishi and Jayant (on national duty) are not in the Haryana team now. I can prove my mettle to the selectors and can seal my place in the Haryana team," Chahal, playing only in his 21st match since making his Ranji debut in 2009, added. However, given the need for an all-rounder is a bonus in the Indian team, Chahal is now looking to fine tune his batting as well.
Focussing also on batting
"More than my bowling, I am now concentrating on my batting as I have realised that an all-rounder is a bonus in the team. "So on a given day, if my bowling lets me down, then I have my batting to back me up and when my team needs me, I can deliver," the chess player-turned cricketer explained.
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