India vs Australia 2018-19: Murali Kartik Bats For Yuzvendra Chahal's Inclusion In Playing XI For Third T20I

Former India spinner Murali Kartik has batted for the inclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal in India’s playing eleven for the third and final T20I against Australia.

Team India sprung a huge surprise on Wednesday by including Krunal Pandya in the team at the expense of Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner is India’s second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is this year but is yet to play a game in Australia.

Krunal had made his T20I debut during the series against Windies earlier this month. And although, he played all the three games, he could not make much of a mark. The allrounder picked up one wicket in the first game but went wicketless in the following two while conceding 40 and 55 runs.

But the team-management cared little about the stats as it pinned its hope on Krunal instead of proven Chahal. And unfortunately, the move badly backfired. Krunal ended up conceding 55 runs in four overs including three sixes in a row in his third over. He also failed to pick up a single wicket. His costly spell made the difference in the end as India lost the thrilling game by just 4 runs.

Krunal, however, did well in the second game, conceding 26 runs while picking the important wicket of Glenn Maxwell.

However, Murali Kartik believes India should bring back Yuzvendra Chahal back in the playing eleven for the third T20I. India will have to win the contest to level the series.

“Just because you had a better day with the ball doesn’t mask or hide the fact that someone like Yuzvendra Chahal adds so much value and depth to the bowling. And more than that, he has that wicket-taking ability which is rare for a bowler to have in T20I. His six-fer, we all know that from Bengaluru and even otherwise. Just the ability to run through a side and make that important dent into the batting lineup, you need a bowler like him,” he told ESPNCricinfo.