"We no longer have real "gun" fielders"- Aakash Chopra on Team India's fielding standards
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes the Men in Blue lack real characters and livewires on the field that had made them a brilliant fielding unit in the last few years.
The likes of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh are no longer in the side and one of the current best fielders in Ravindra Jadeja is out injured. Chopra opined that the current team has decent fielders like Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya.
However, speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra explained how the absence of absolutely sensational fielders has affected the team. He said:
"We no longer have real "gun" fielders in our team. Players like Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and even Ravindra Jadeja isn't a part of this team. We no longer use the phrase "Wow! what a fielder" watching someone from our team field."
India picks three wicketkeepers in their XI: Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra made an interesting observation about the playing XI that the Men in Blue often choose in the shortest format. Even in the current squad, there are three wicketkeepers in KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik.
One of the best fielder in the world 🌎
Commentators:-ye hai fielding ke Prabhu @ImRaina #INDLvsAUSL #RoadSafetyWorldSeries2022 https://t.co/bGqxn5l8Dl
The likes of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan are also wicketkeepers who are in and out of the side and often end up without the gloves when Pant plays. On this, Chopra stated:
"Often Team India picks three wicketkeepers in their playing XI, out of which only one gets the gloves. The other two are in the outfield and generally can't be counted as gun fielders."
India squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj
Will the Men in Blue's lack of gun fielders cost them in the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under? Let us know in the comments.