Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has once again raised his concern regarding India’s long tail in the batting going into the three-match Ireland series starting Friday. India’s batting depth in white-ball cricket is a cause of concern for the Indian team management which is also a reason behind India’s loss against the West Indies.
Indian tailenders failed to score some useful runs in the lower order as the team went with a proper four-bowling option in the team, alongside two all-rounders, which proved to be costly for the team and the team management will have the same problem in the Ireland series as they will be without the services of Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel for the three-match tour.
Speaking on his Youtube channel, Aakash Chopra feels that the Indian team will once again struggle in the lower-order batting.
Besides, he reckons that the team has stuck to find their No.8 player in T20 cricket and raised his concern about the usage of Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar in the match, as the team will require top order batter to roll arm in the game if they play an extra all-rounder in the team.
“I am already seeing a problem with this team. The problem that was there against West Indies will be repeated once again here. The simple problem is that they have not picked a No. 8 batter now also. You will get stuck if you try to pick a batter at No. 8.”
“You will say that you can only play Shahbaz (Ahmed) there or you can field an extra batter and play Washi (Washington Sundar) at No. 8. As soon as you do that, you won’t get a bowler among the batters at the top. Then you will have to get Tilak Varma and Yashasvi Jaiswal to bowl more,” Aakash Chopra said.
The Men in Blue were over-reliant on the top-order batters to score runs in the T20 series against the West Indies, as they lost a few close games due to long-tail in the Indian playing 11. Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, and Mukesh Kumar formed the lower-order batting for India.
Ravi Bishnoi Has Come At No.8, You Are Stuck Now – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra feels that Ravi Bishnoi would take up the No.8 position in the team below Washington Sundar, as the three pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, and Arshdeep Singh following them in the lower-order batting for India.
“Ravi Bishnoi after Washington Sundar and then Jasprit Bumrah. See Ravi Bishnoi has come at No. 8. You are stuck now. Bishnoi at No. 8, Bumrah at No. 9, Prasidh Krishna at No. 10, Arshdeep Singh at No. 11,” Aakash Chopra added.
Jasprit Bumrah and Co. would look to turn things around in the forthcoming series. This series will be an important one for the Indian bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna, who will be coming off from a long-laying injury.`