"Do you see KL Rahul or Virat Kohli playing with that philosophy?" - Aakash Chopra says Team India need a fearless approach in white-ball cricket
Aakash Chopra believes Team India need to adopt a fearless approach to be successful in white-ball cricket.
The Men In Blue were handed a 3-0 thrashing by South Africa in the recently concluded three-match ODI series. While their middle order bore the brunt of the criticism for the loss, the top order also played conservatively, which put undue pressure on the batters to follow.
Aakash Chopra reflected on the reasons for Team India's loss in a video shared on his YouTube channel. He had the following to say about the slightly defensive approach of some of their accomplished batters like KL Rahul and Virat Kohli:
"A fearless approach is needed. Team has a philosophy and everybody has a buy-in in that philosophy, that philosophy is not being seen. When you see KL Rahul, do you see him playing with that philosophy? When you see Virat Kohli playing nowadays, do you see him playing with that philosophy? It's just not the same philosophy."
The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that the team's interests should always be kept above those of the individual players. Aakash Chopra observed:
"A player who does not bother about his place in the side has a fearless approach, he says he is absolutely safe. The team has a motive and they go with that - I am not important, team is more important than me."
I am not sure Anil Kumble was the problem at PBKS, with regards to the tempo of KL Rahul's white ball batting! 😡😡
He should never open.
Rahul was particularly sedate at the top of the order during the ODI series against the Proteas. The usually free-stroking batter scored his runs at a strike rate of 71.69 and was circumspect even against the part-time spin of Aiden Markram.
"I am not saying that the shot Rishabh Pant played was very good" - Aakash Chopra
However, Aakash Chopra did not condone Rishabh Pant's ultra-aggressive approach as well. He reasoned:
"Philosophy does not mean that you become reckless. I am not saying that the shot Rishabh Pant played was very good because that was the philosophy, but that was not the team's philosophy but his own."
The 44-year-old concluded by saying that the entire team needs to adopt a similar approach for them to succeed. Aakash Chopra elaborated:
"If it had been the team's philosophy that everyone will hit, from No. 1 to No. 8, then I would say that he [Pant] probably hit a little early but the thinking was right. But your team's philosophy is not fearless at all. If one person is going in one direction and the remaining team is going in the other direction, it will not work out."
While acknowledging that Rahul's captaincy was very good in the last match, Aakash Chopra concluded by saying that the Indian skipper could have been more proactive in the first two matches. He pointed out that Rahul was outsmarted by Temba Bavuma as a skipper.