"Pant is not really repaying the faith" - Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja's absence hurting Team India at T20 World Cup 2022
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has pointed out that a crucial player's unexpected absence could hurt India's prospects at the T20 World Cup beginning in Australia next month.
He cited the example of the Men in Blue's troubles due to Ravindra Jadeja getting ruled out midway through the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022. Jadeja played a crucial role in India's group stage wins against Pakistan and Hong Kong.
Rohit Sharma and Co. were forced to change their combination after the all-rounder got injured. He suffered a knee injury ahead of the Super-4 game against Pakistan. Team India were subsequently eliminated from the tournament after losing to Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on some of the learnings for India from the Asia Cup. Regarding Rishabh Pant's inclusion in the XI due to Jadeja's absence, he said:
"A big learning we got was that the situation becomes slightly bad if one guy goes. The moment Jaddu goes, Rishabh Pant is playing because you need a left-hander in the middle but at this point in time, Pant is not really repaying the faith or he is not justifying his reputation."
Chopra highlighted that Dinesh Karthik's position as a finisher was resultantly compromised. The former India batter explained:
"Suddenly you feel you cannot play DK (Dinesh Karthik). So the last 20 matches that we were going with Dinesh Karthik the finisher, as soon as a big tournament came or a multi-nation tournament came, Dinesh Karthik was not there because Jaddu was not there. The need for a left-hander changed the entire story."
Jadeja was promoted to bat at No. 4 in the Group A game against Pakistan and played a telling 35-run knock. Pant was included in the XI at Karthik's expense in the first two Super 4 games to accomodate a left-hander in the top six.
"You are unable to get Deepak Hooda to bowl" - Aakash Chopra
Chopra added that Deepak Hooda played ahead of Axar Patel to add meat to the batting. He observed:
"You don't play Axar as well in that match, you are thinking that you should get a little more depth in the batting. Then you are unable to get Deepak Hooda to bowl because you feel he cannot bowl or he is not your all-rounder."
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Chopra concluded by hoping that such wholesale changes are not required due to the possible unavailability of a player in a crucial World Cup game. The renowned commentator elaborated:
"So suddenly because of a guy's absence, 360-degree changes start to happen. Then when a big match comes, whether it is the final, a World Cup match, or India-Pakistan one more time, India-South Africa at Perth, it is possible one guy might not be available for that particular game, if you have to make two-three changes at a time, the story gets stuck."
India will be without the services of Jadeja in the T20 World Cup as well. It will be interesting to see if the team management opts to go with Pant and Hooda ahead of Karthik and Axar in the playing XI once again.