India's forgotten hero sends loud message to Agarkar, BCCI with 5-wicket haul in County: 'He does this every time'

While a majority of Team India's stars are gearing up for the Test series against Bangladesh starting September 19, some of its discarded cricketers are trying to prove a point and pushing for a comeback. If 10 days ago, Ajinkya Rahane, once a mainstay of India's Test batting line-up, completed his 40th First-Class century, scoring 102 off 192 balls for Leicestershire against Glamorgan, then just yesterday, Yuzvendra Chahal registered a five-wicket-haul for Northamptonshire against Glamorgan, putting his team in the box seat.

This was Chahal's second five-for in the ongoing County Championship in a month. In August, the India leg-spinner had scalped 5/14 against Kent and played a vital role in Northants' nine-wicket-win. Cut to Tuesday, Chahal was once again in impeccable form, bowling some absolute gems en route to dismissing Wayne Madsen, Aneurin Donald, Zak Chappell, Alex Thomson and Jack Morley to celebrate the third 5-wicket-haul of his First-Class career.

Chahal's exploits serve a reminder to the BCCI selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar, who have seemingly written him off. Once the backbone of India's white-ball spin attack along with Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal has slowly faded out of the picture over the last couple of years. He was part of India's T20 World Cup campaign in the USA and West Indies which the Men in Blue won, but on expected lines, did not get a game. The exact same thing happened to him during the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australuia as well, where all Chahal did was warm the bench.

How Yuzvendra Chahal slowly faded away?

Chahal's last appearance for India dates back to August of 2023, where he featured in a T20I against West Indies at Lauderhill. Before that, his last ODI came in January of the same year. Long story short, Chahal hasn't played a single game for India in more than a year – including getting dropped from the ODI World Cup squad. Chahal was never in India's red-ball scheme of things, and is yet to receive his Test cap. Understandably so, considering how far ahead Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and now Kuldeep are in the pecking order.

But Chahal, who was once a cornerstone of the Indian cricket team and a star attraction for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL, has seemingly lost favour with the BCCI. However, his impressive performance in the County Championship, promises to grab the selectors' attention. It could be a turning point and potentially pave the way for a recall eventually to the national squad.