"I won't kill Rohit Sharma or the Indian team for the decision" - Aakash Chopra on India bowling first in BGT 2024-25 3rd Test
Aakash Chopra has said that he won't blame Rohit Sharma and Team India for opting to bowl first in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 third Test. He pointed out that the Indian captain had a tricky call to make based on the pitch and overhead conditions.
Australia ended a rain-truncated Day 1 (Saturday, December 14) at 28 for no loss after being inserted into bat in Brisbane. Usman Khawaja (19*) and Nathan McSweeney (4*) were unseparated in the 13.2 overs bowled by the Indian seamers.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener was asked about his thoughts on Rohit's decision to bowl first.
"Tough one. Many times, in such conditions, you consider batting first a brave decision because your gut feeling, when you see the greenery on the pitch and the overcast overhead conditions with chances of rain, says everything is hinting in one direction that you should win the toss and bowl first," he responded (9:05).
"However, in such a scenario, when you decide to bat first sometimes - like India did in Perth, it worked out beautifully. The second time also you decided to bat first, but it didn't work out beautifully, that was the pink-ball Test. So I won't kill Rohit Sharma or the Indian team for the decision," Chopra added.
India won the first Test in Perth by 295 runs after Jasprit Bumrah decided to bat first. However, they suffered a 10-wicket defeat in the second Test in Adelaide when Rohit made the same call.
"There is a lot of help on the first day and then the conditions become better for batting" - Aakash Chopra on the reason for bowling first
![The ball didn't swing much on Day 1 despite the overcast conditions. [P/C: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/12/4ecde-17341683159453-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the conditions are likely to become more batting-friendly as the game progresses.
"Many times, when you see the pitch, you feel you should bowl first, that you will bowl out the opposition quickly as we also got out in the last match. We fell short. Our batting did not fire. Conditions have a role to play. There is a lot of help on the first day and then the conditions become better for batting," he said (9:45).
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that India's indifferent batting performance in Adelaide might have forced Rohit Sharma to field first.
"When you have not batted well in the previous Test match, you feel that even if there is a slight chance of doing a little better by doing something, you try that. I know people will look back and say that you should have batted after winning the toss, but I won't be too critical. I can understand why the Indian team decided to bowl first," Chopra observed.
India were bowled out for 180 after opting to bat first in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. They didn't fare better in the second innings either as they were bundled out for 175.