Veteran Indian cricket team spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked Rajasthan Royals teammates Jos Buttler or Yashasvi Jaiswal to win the Orange Cap (become the highest run-scorer) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. In a video on his YouTube channel‘JokerKiHaveli,’ Esports streamer Gulrez Khan asked him to pick the top run-scorer of the upcoming season and although he jokingly picked himself first, he later said he believes it will be either Buttler or Jaiswal. “Orange cap will go to (Yashasvi) Jaiswal or Jos Buttler,” Chahal said.
Chahal was asked to predict the leading wicket-taker as well and he picked himself. For the second position, he picked Gujarat Titans spinner Rashid Khan.
“I will take the most wickets. Second, Rashid Khan,” the veteran spinner said in the video.
Meanwhile, former India opener Aakash Chopra has expressed his surprise over the leg spinner being excluded from the central contracts of the BCCI.
He added that Chahal’s ouster means the selection committee is looking at other options.
“I am a bit surprised that Yuzi Chahal’s name is not there. Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shikhar Dhawan – their names not being there, I can understand. Even Deepak Hooda for that matter. But Chahal’s name not being there – what does that signify? It seems to indicate that they (BCCI) are looking in a different direction. This is a validation of the theory. He might have had a ray of hope, but it wasn’t to be. His name is not there,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
The out-of-favour duo of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were excluded after ignoring the directive to play Ranji Trophy, while skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli expectedly retained their place in the top bracket as the BCCI unveiled its centrally-contracted players for this year.
