IND vs AUS 2022: "When you can't defend 208, lot of questions need to be asked" - Aakash Chopra after India's disappointing loss
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra wasn't pleased with Team India's bowling effort as they failed to defend a mammoth target of 209 against Australia in the first T20I at Mohali on Tuesday.
The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel together conceded as many as 101 runs in their eight overs. Such a performance from two of India's most experienced bowlers is a worrying sign, according to Chopra.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel after the game, Aakash Chopra explained how weak the Men in Blue's bowling attack looks despite it being back to almost its full strength. He said:
"When you can't defend 208, lot of questions need to be asked. We had said that once Harshal and Bumrah come back, everything will be sorted. Harshal was back and Bumrah will eventually be back too. But 208 are a lot of runs and they won with four balls to spare and with four wickets with hand. It was so easy for them. What's going on?"
Aakash Chopra points out Team India had no dew to counter
Aakash Chopra believes teams chasing have a huge advantage in T20s due to dew being a possible factor later in the game. However, the 45-year-old claimed that there was absolutely no dew as the conditions in Mohali were cloudy.
On this, he stated:
"This was one of those games where you thought there shouldn't have been a problem in defending. Yes, the side batting second have (the) advantage because of the possibility of dew, but fun fact, there was no dew yesterday.
"There was a cloud cover and it even started raining after the game. So despite there being no dew, if you fail to defend such a huge total, then there is definitely a big problem."
Saying this again use Bhuvi for only one over in last 5 overs.
Chopra was also baffled to see Team India pick Umesh Yadav over Deepak Chahar, with Bumrah and Mohammed Shami unavailable. He said:
"India once again did something different. Jasprit Bumrah didn't play as you felt he is not fully fit for bowling. Then even Mohammed Shami was unavailable due to COVID-19.
"But then you pick Umesh Yadav, who wasn't in your scheme of things for almost the past three years and you bench Deepak Chahar, who is your reserve bowler for the T20 World Cup. This defies a little bit of logic."
The hosts will need to bounce back to stay alive in the series when they take on the Aussies in the second T20I at Nagpur on Friday.