Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that skipper Rohit Sharma and his teammates were not prepared to “take body blows and stick around” during the first Test match against South Africa in Centurion. The new-look Proteas side completely outplayed India, who were defeated by an innings and 32 runs.
Indian Captain Rohit Sharma, too, struggled with the bat, being removed for 5 (14) and 0 (8) in both innings. South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, dismissed him both times. On the field, India appeared empty of motivation and ideas, and their captain must shoulder most of the blame ahead of the second and final test.
Speaking on Jiocinema, Aakash Chopra slammed Indian batters for their poor batting performance in the second innings against South Africa, claiming that Indian batters failed to grind out hard in the middle and that Indian youngsters clearly lacked the skill set to play at the highest level in unfamiliar conditions.
“When the third day’s play began, I felt there was a realistic chance of an Indian fightback. But that did not happen. An innings defeat is quite humbling. Except for (KL) Rahul in the first innings and (Virat) Kohli in the second, the others did not look convincing.”
“No one looked like willing to play ugly, take body blows, and stick around. Rohit Sharma was out to (Kagiso) Rabada in both innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal is still far from figuring out these conditions. Shreyas Iyer didn’t look good. India needed to bat four sessions which did not happen,” Aakash Chopra said.
Despite Virat Kohli’s gallant effort of 76 runs in the second innings, India fell short, scoring only 131 runs. The shambolic performance of the Indian batters saw numerous players squander their wickets due to a lack of application in dealing with difficult conditions.
There’s A Slight Technical Deficiency In Shubman Gill Batting – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra also addressed about the performance of Shubman Gill, who failed to score significantly in the match, saying that despite his white-ball form, he needs to start scoring runs in order to cement his status in the Test squad and believes that he has a lot of work do in the longer format of the game.
“Gill was impressive in the series against Australia when India toured and looked like a player for the future. He’s batted well in ODIs which is his favourite format and done modestly in T20s.
“But in Tests, against England, New Zealand, South Africa, and West Indies, I don’t think he has performed well. So, there is a question mark. He started off as an opener.”
“Then he batted at No 3. Eventually, he wants to bat at No. 4 is what I feel. But he needs to start scoring runs. There’s a slight technical deficiency in his batting, too. He’s a player who likes to play mostly with his hands and does not rely mainly on his feet. So, this approach may suit flat pitches and white ball cricket. But that does not work in Test cricket,” Aakash Chopra added.
Shubman Gill has been on fire since the start of the 2023 season, proving to be an important component for the Indian squad in International Cricket with a record double hundred in ODI cricket, followed by a maiden century in T20 cricket and has contributed to the team’s success in all three formats of the game.
