"He has conceded a lot of runs" - Aakash Chopra picks Yuzvendra Chahal as one of Team India's concerns ahead of the 3rd T20I vs South Africa
Aakash Chopra has picked Yuzvendra Chahal's inability to pick up wickets apart from being expensive as one of the concerns for Team India heading into the third T20I against South Africa.
Chahal has snared just one wicket in the two T20Is against the Proteas thus far. The wily leg-spinner has also conceded 75 runs in the 6.1 overs he has bowled in the series to date.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra reflected on some of the pain points for Team India in the series thus far. He said the following about Chahal:
"The biggest concern is that India is not picking up enough wickets in the middle overs. Yuzvendra Chahal is our experienced customer, you look towards him. All of us said that it was massive injustice when he was not selected for the World Cup. But the truth is that he has conceded a lot of runs in this series."
While observing that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has given Team India early breakthroughs, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that the spinners have been a let-down. Aakash Chopra elaborated:
"The start is still good, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picks up wickets, but we have picked up just two wickets in the middle overs. It also tells you that our spin has not worked at all. Yuzi Chahal has picked up one wicket, Axar Patel has picked up one wicket, we have not really bowled well. There has been no potency in the middle overs."
Aakash Chopra was also slightly critical of Team India's fielding, explaining:
"Catches win matches right. You will be surprised to hear that we are dropping one out of every four catches. So when you drop catches, you cannot win the match, that is for sure."
Shreyas Iyer put down an easy offering from Rassie van der Dussen in the first game, which proved very costly in the end. Ravi Bishnoi dropped a tough catch of Heinrich Klaasen in the second match but the game was almost sealed in the visitors' favor by then.
"Shreyas is struggling a little against pace" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra picked Shreyas Iyer's struggles against the Proteas pacers as another concern for Team India. He explained:
"Shreyas (Iyer) is struggling a little against pace, that's another issue that is required to be addressed. It's the elephant in the room that the guy is scoring runs, so don't talk about him but the truth is that if you have to move forward, you cannot just hit against spin, you will have to do that against pace as well."
Shreyas has amassed 76 runs in the two T20Is thus far. However, most of his attacking shots have come against the spinners and he has been kept on a tight leash by the South African quicks.