Aakash Chopra feels India needs to start picking players who bat in the middle-order for their IPL franchise in the T20 squad. According to him, in the present Indian side, top-order batters are playing in the middle order as well, which is hurting the balance of the team.
India struggled with their batting in the first two group stage matches of the T20 World Cup 2021, scoring 151 for 7 against Pakistan and 110 for 7 against New Zealand. They posted 210 for 2 against Afghanistan when the openers smashed the requisite fifties.
Aakash Chopra Urges To Pick Players Who Bat In The Middle Order For IPL Franchises
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra blamed India’s selection policy for their middle-order muddle.
He elaborated: “If you are talking about T20 cricket, let’s start picking players who bat there for their franchise. That is the most important bit. As of now, we are picking the players who are scoring the highest number of runs. But most of them are top-order batters. Nobody bats in the middle-order for their franchise.”
Aakash Chopra further explained: “If you play in the top three for your franchise, you should not be played at No. 5 or No. 6 for India. And if there is no place in the top-order, then such batters must be kept out of the playing XI.”
“Select those players who bat at No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6 for their franchise consistently and score runs at that position. If we start picking top-order batters again for the middle-order, we will face the same issues all over again.”
Giving the example of Pakistan’s Asif Ali, Aakash Chopra pointed out that batting in the middle and lower order is a specialized position.
Aakash Chopra commented: “Look at Asif Ali of Pakistan. He has played small knocks but those have been very impactful. That can only happen when you have batted at that position for a long time. That needs to change (for India).”
Asif Ali smashed 27* off 12 against New Zealand and 25* off 7 against Afghanistan, lifting Pakistan to victory from tense circumstances in both matches.
India Face Scotland In Another Must-Win Clash On Friday
Meanwhile, India’s middle-order could be tested again as they take on Scotland in a Super 12 clash on Friday in Dubai. India will need to win the game by a comprehensive margin to stay alive in the race for the semi-finals.
With India now high on momentum, they would be looking to maintain their winning streak by facing Scotland’s weakest team in the competition. This would be India’s first T20 encounter against the Scottish team. They were supposed to play Scotland in the 2007 T20 World Cup, but that match was washed out due to rain
The Indian team found some form against Afghanistan as Rohit Sharma scored 74 and KL Rahul 69. After the openers were dismissed, Hardik Pandya (35*) and Rishabh Pant (27*) took India past the 200-run mark. Rishabh Pant and Hardik, who was promoted up the order, played handy cameos. On the bowling front, while Ravichandran Ashwin starred with 2 for 14, Mohammed Shami claimed 3 for 32.
India 210 for 2 (Rohit 74, Rahul 69) beat Afghanistan 144 for 7 (Janat 42*, Nabi 35, Shami 3-32, Ashwin 2-14) by 66 runs
India Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/ Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
Scotland Predicted XI: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (C), Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Michael Leask, Matthew Cross (WK), Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Josh Davey & Brad Wheal.