IND v AUS 2020: Aakash Chopra picks 3 Indian players who flopped in the limited-overs series
Former opener Aakash Chopra has picked three players who failed to shine for the Indian cricket team in the white-ball leg of their tour of Australia. He named these players whose graphs showed a downward trend in a video shared on his Facebook page.
Aakash Chopra named Sanju Samson as the first player who did not make the use of the chances he got despite the ability he possesses.
"The first name in this list is of Sanju Samson. I like this player a lot, even Gautam Gambhir likes him a lot because when he plays he hits the sixes and fours with ease. He got three chances, T20 is a cruel format but what can be done, this is what he could have got, he couldn't have got any more because there is no place."
Aakash Chopra pointed out that although the wicketkeeper-batsman looked good in the middle, he could not get the big scores and will struggle to make the Indian XI once Rohit Sharma is back.
"He also got to bat at No.4 in all the three matches. I know he played for a while and looked good as well and took a couple of good catches also but he could not utlilise his chances. The day Rohit comes back, Shikhar will stay and Rahul will come down the order, so who will go out. Sanju Samson's road ahead is going to be slightly difficult, that's what I feel."
Aakash Chopra's picks of the other two Indian players who failed to live up to expectations
Yuzvendra Chahal was the second player named by Aakash Chopra who proved to be a bit of a letdown.
"The second player who comes to my mind is Yuzvendra Chahal. I had great expectations from him. The first two ODIs were not good, where he conceded 80-odd runs, which is not expected from him. But it happened with him and then you get worried a little."
Aakash Chopra pointed out that the leg-spinner had a dismal run other than the first T20I, in which he won the Man of the Match after coming on as a concussion substitute for Ravindra Jadeja.
"Then he did not play a T20I but then still played that and became the Man of the Match by being a concussion substitute. But other than that, the two T20Is after that he conceded more than 40 runs each. This is not the Chahal that we know. But I hope that he will strongly bounce back from here because he has the experience. But this tour was sub-standard from his standards."
Aakash Chopra named Shreyas Iyer as the third player who disappointed him with his performances.
"The last player from whom I was a little disappointed, from whom I had a lot of expectations is Shreyas Iyer. He is the captain of the Delhi Capitals and had performed well also earlier but the series was stop-start for him."
The renowned commentator highlighted that the Delhi Capitals skipper did not play a substantial knock across the two series.
"Also whenever he got the start, he couldn't convert it into a big innings. First he got out to a bouncer and then when he was playing well, he couldn't play the long innings. When that happens, the questions will be asked."
As mentioned by Aakash Chopra, the wily Yuzvendra Chahal will be expected to bounce back from the mauling at the hands of the Aussie batsmen.
But the poor returns of Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer will be a setback for them in their quest to cement a middle-order spot in the Indian team. Plenty of other batsmen like Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan are waiting in the wings.