 "Yuzvendra Chahal and Sanju Samson were notable absentees from India's squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Images: Reuters / AP")
Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has questioned the absence of spinner Yuzvendra Chahal from India’s squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Last week, the BCCI announced an India squad for the Champions Trophy that relied heavily on spinners. The list of spinners in the squad include Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.
‘Don’t know what wrong he did’: Harbhajan on Chahal’s exclusion
But, Chahal, who last played an ODI in January 2023 against New Zealand, was overlooked. “Sanju isn’t there. Yuzvendra Chahal isn’t there, too. You’ve picked four spinners, two of them are left-armers. You could’ve included a leg-spinner for variation, too. Chahal is a superb bowler. I don’t know what wrong he did, that he doesn’t fit in this team,” Harbhajan told Switch.
Chahal has played 72 ODIs for India so far and has scalped 121 wickets at an economy of 5.26. Chahal’s previous India call-up was during the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA. The 34-year-old, however, did not get to play a single game.
Harbhajan was also not happy with Sanju Samson’ exclusion from the Indian team for the Champions Trophy. Samson had scored a century against South Africa in Paarl in the last ODI he played in December 2023. He also scored three T20I centuries last year, with two of them coming against South Africa in November.
‘I feel bad for him’: Harbhajan on Samson missing out
“Truly, I feel bad for him. He scores runs but he is dropped. I know you can only select 15, but I feel his batting suits the format. He has an average of 55-56, but he isn’t even there as a second wicketkeeper. When we talk about selecting him, people ask, in whose place? Places can be made,” the 44-year-old stated.
India are in Group A for the Champions Trophy and will begin their campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on 20 February . The Men in Blue will then face arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue three days later, before locking horns against New Zealand on 2 March, also in Dubai.