Asia Cup 2022: "Rishabh Pant is wasting his chances" - Aakash Chopra picks his preferred India XI for Super 4 clash vs Sri Lanka
Aakash Chopra has picked his preferred India XI for the Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 clash against Sri Lanka in Dubai on Tuesday (September 6).
The Men in Blue made three changes to their playing XI for their first Super 4 game against Pakistan. While Hardik Pandya returned to the side at Dinesh Karthik's expense, Deepak Hooda and Ravi Bishnoi replaced the indisposed duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Avesh Khan.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra questioned whether Rishabh Pant should be left out because of his underwhelming performances. He observed:
"What can be India's XI? The question is that Rishabh Pant is wasting his chances, but the other problem is that will you change the team after every match? You played Dinesh Karthik in the first match; both Pant and Karthik played in the second match because Hardik was not there, but neither of them got to bat."
Chopra feels the Indian team should not be trigger-happy. The former India batter explained:
"When Hardik came, Dinesh went, and Rishabh Pant was retained. If Rishabh Pant got out early, will you send him out? If you send Rishabh out, it will look like a knee-jerk reaction, that you are changing after every loss. That's not good; that's a problem."
Pant scored 14 off 12 deliveries in the Super 4 game against Pakistan on Sunday (September 4). He tried a reverse sweep off Shadab Khan's bowling from outside the leg stump but hit it straight to Asif Ali at backward point.
"You should definitely play six bowlers" - Aakash Chopra
Chopra believes India should go into the Sri Lanka game with an additional specialist bowler. He reasoned:
"You might go with the same team just for the sake of continuity. I personally feel that you should definitely play six bowlers - five proper bowlers and Hardik Pandya, or else the captain does not get the confidence. You played Hooda thinking that he can bowl off-spin in between, but you couldn't get him to do that."
The updated list of Asia Cup Teams and Squads can be viewed here.
The reputed commentator reckons Ravichandran Ashwin should come into the XI at Hooda's expense. He elaborated:
"You might think about playing Ashwin in place of Hooda here. You will have three spinners - Yuzi, Ravi Bishnoi and Ashwin. You will have three pacers in Arshdeep, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya. Of course, the batting depth is slightly reduced, but you will have to take a little more responsibility."
I believe Ashwin comes in next game. Sri Lanka have Asalanka, Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa in their middle order being engine room.
Aakash Chopra's India XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh