Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes there would be a significant gap between India and England if Indian batters performed to their full potential in the ongoing five-match Test series. The Men in Blue performed admirably in the game, but they were unable to score significant runs against England.
Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal each made half-centuries in India’s opening innings of the Hyderabad Test but were unable to convert them into large three-figure scores. In the Visakhapatnam Test, only Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill scored half-centuries for India.
In a video posted on his YouTube account, Aakash Chopra remarked that the outcome of the ongoing series will define the success of Bazball and argued that India will be far superior if they live up to their promise in the red-ball cricket.
“It’s novel thinking for sure but this series will tell how successful it will be. You are standing at 1-1, you won the first match very nicely and you faced defeat in the second match. If you look inwards, you would say that you missed a trick and an opportunity.”
“One of the main reasons for that is that the Indian batting is not doing that well. If the Indian batting starts playing to its potential, you will see a huge gap between the two teams,” Aakash Chopra said
The five-match series between the two teams is now deadlocked at 1-1. While the visitors won the first game in Hyderabad by 28 runs, Rohit Sharma and co. came back to win the second Test in Visakhapatnam by 106 runs. Both the teams would be keen on coming back good in the remainder of the series.
I Really Hope That Indian Team Starts Playing To Their Potential With The Bat – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra believes that India’s batting performance has been below par in the first two tests against England, but he is optimistic that the Indian batters will perform to their full potential in the third test and stated that the outcome of the series will help determine the value of Bazball in red-ball cricket.
“The Indian batting’s below-par performances are bringing the teams slightly closer. I really hope that the Indian team starts playing to their potential with the bat. Then I will see how Bazball plays here because I feel the jury is out. The verdict is not clear whether Bazball would work here or not,” Aakash Chopra added.
In Hyderabad’s slightly spin-friendly conditions, England’s batters turned to unusual shots such as the reverse sweep. They batted aggressively on the flat pitch at Visakhapatnam as well but used a slightly more conventional approach.
However, India used a more traditional approach in both games, which paid off for the side in the second game.
