No fun in playing Test cricket on benign dead pitches: Aakash Chopra
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has given his opinion on the ideal kind of pitches for Test cricket. He has been keeping up with the ongoing Test match between Australia and South Africa at the Gabba and is absolutely thrilled with the pace at which the match has progressed.
There is a high possibility of the match ending inside three days due to the green wicket dished out at the Gabba. However, Chopra doesn't seem to have a problem with it as he feels Test cricket should be 'exciting' and that's exactly the case with the Gabba Test.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra explained why playing on a lively wicket is better than that on a benign one. He said:
"Either the pitch should have help for spin or it should aid the pacers. There is absolutely no fun in playing Test cricket on benign dead pitches."
Aakash Chopra on India's task on Day 5
With the pitch having slowed up considerably, Aakash Chopra feels it won't be a walk in the park for India to pick up the remaining four Bangladesh wickets on day five in Chattogram.
The hosts need a further 241 runs to win, but have two of their more able batters in Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan at the crease. Chopra reckons the duo will battle it out hard and make things as difficult as they can for the visitors.
Bangladesh vs India: 1st Test, Stumps Day 4
Bangladesh need 241 runs to win.
#BCB | #Cricket | #BANvIND https://t.co/EOCb5xQxu2
On this, he stated:
"Bangladesh still have life left in them. Mehidy played the most number of balls among their batters in the first innings and Shakib is a quality batter too. So it may not be as straightforward for India as it looks. They will probably have to work harder to break this partnership. The pitch gets slower in Chattogram and so it's probably a bit more difficult to pick wickets."
India XI: KL Rahul (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
Bangladesh XI: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Zakir Hasan, Mushiqur Rahim, Yasir Ali, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain.