Aakash Chopra picks India's likely XI for 2nd Test vs South Africa, expects 2 changes
Aakash Chopra expects India to make two changes to their playing XI for the second Test against South Africa.
Rohit Sharma and company will face the Proteas in the final Test of the two-match series in Cape Town from Wednesday, January 3. They will hope to draw level in the series after being thrashed by an innings and 32 runs in the Boxing Day Test in Centurion.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that none of the batters will be replaced despite their failures in the series opener. He reasoned (3:50):
"The batting disappointed a lot in the last match but the guillotine will not fall on the batters once again because there are no batters in the squad. No one is sitting outside. Only Abhimanyu Easwaran is sitting outside and Rinku Singh has been called, but both will not play."
The former India opener expects the visitors to continue opening with Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal and go with the same middle order. He said:
"So exactly the same batting lineup will play. Yashasvi (Jaiswal) will be the opener alongside Rohit Sharma, Shubman (Gill) at No. 3, (Virat) Kohli at No. 4, (Shreyas) Iyer at No. 5 and (KL) Rahul at No. 6."
KL Rahul, with a 101-run knock in the first innings, and Virat Kohli, with 76 runs in the second essay, were the only two Indian batters to give a decent account of themselves in the first Test. Apart from Kohli, Shubman Gill (26) was the only Indian player to reach double digits in the second innings.
"There will be a slight debate on Shardul Thakur but he will be played" - Aakash Chopra
![Shardul Thakur (left) registered figures of 1/101 in 19 overs in Centurion. [P/C: AP]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/01/c03af-17042502055643-1920.jpg?w=500)
While expecting Ravindra Jadeja to replace Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI, Aakash Chopra sees Shardul Thakur holding onto his spot. He elaborated (4:10):
"At No. 7, you will have Ravindra Jadeja in place of Ravichandran Ashwin. Then there will be a slight debate on Shardul Thakur, whether he should be played or not because he was extremely expensive last time, but he will be played because you need a batter at that number."
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckons Prasidh Krishna might have to make way for Avesh Khan. He stated:
"After that, you will play three fast bowlers. One will be (Mohammed) Siraj and second will be (Jasprit) Bumrah. There will be a long debate on whether Prasidh Krishna should be played or not and you will say - 'Let's play Avesh (Khan) and give him a debut'."
However, Chopra is not in favor of such a move. He feels dropping Krishna, the last game's debutant, after one indifferent performance (1/93 in 20 overs) won't be fair.