Aakash Chopra feels India should have sent a second string side to West Indies

Pant was spectacular in the IPL

 

What’s the Story?

As India comprehensively defeated West Indies 3-1 in the 5 match ODI series, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra felt that the Men in Blue should have experimented and played a few youngsters in their playing XI over the course of the series.

He praised the Indian side and felt that they ticked all the boxes except for making use of players like Rishabh Pant, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Basil Thampi.

“The other side of the argument is that if India had played a second string side, it would've lost, may be, a game more and even that wouldn't have made a huge difference to the team's fortunes,” said Aakash.

“And to assume that India would've lost the series if Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant, Basil Thampi and Sanju Samson had played is preposterous, for that would be underestimating the younger brigade and over-estimating the West Indies. Even if that was the case, it's better to lose a series and know your wards than losing an opportunity to know them. But whose responsibility was it to give everyone a go? The captain or the selectors?” he continued. 

In case you didn’t know...

The team management had decided to rest Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah for the tour to the Caribbean and included Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav instead. While Kuldeep played in four out of the five matches and achieved quite a bit of success, Pant did not get to play a single match so far.

The Details: 

Out of the three cricketers Aakash has spoken about, Yuzvendra Chahal is the only one who has made his ODI debut for India (against Zimbabwe last year). While Pant made his T20I debut against England earlier this year, he hardly got a chance to make a mark for himself facing just a few deliveries at the end of the innings. 

On the other hand, Thampi is yet to make his debut for the Men in Blue. He was a revelation in the IPL and his success in the tournament led to him being called up to be a part of India A’s squad which will travel to South Africa next month.

What’s Next?

India will take on Windies in the one-off T20I which will be held at the Kingston Park in Jamaica on July 9.

Author’s Take

Aakash Chopra is completely right when he says that the youngsters should have been given a chance in the ODIs against West Indies. It would have been the perfect opportunity to send a second string side given the fact that the main team had come off a tiresome campaign at the ICC Champions Trophy.

With the ICC World Cup just two years away, the team management and selectors will have to look beyond the likes of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni and find appropriate replacements for them.