"No such need" - Aakash Chopra on whether India needs different teams for different formats
Aakash Chopra believes India don't need entirely different teams for different formats of the game. He said on Saturday that the BCCI's current method of playing all-format players across Tests, ODIs and T20Is alongside some format-specific players should work just fine in the foreseeable future.
The question of format-sepecific teams had surfaced after India's ouster from the T20 World Cup and Rohit Sharma's takeover of the T20I captaincy.
Many nations like England use most of their players for a maximum of two formats which makes their three teams quite different from each other. India, meanwhile, utilizes the same core group in all formats and adds specific players - for instance Cheteshwar Pujara in Tests and Ishan Kishan in white-ball squads.
Speaking in a Q&A session on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra weighed in on the subject by saying:
"You can do it but there is no such need. You need some T20-specific players but when you have all-format players like Rohit, Rahul, Virat Kohli, Jaddu, Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, if they are doing well then let them play. I mean, you'll have to give them adequate rest that is a fact. But for other players - pick ODI-specific players for ODIs and T20-specific players for T20Is, If you mix that up then you might be in trouble."
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Playing format-specific teams help boards to manage the workloads of its players better. But on the flip side, if this delicate balance isn't maintained, one format starts to get more attention than the other like it happened with England's Test and T20I teams earlier this year.
"There should be a round-robin format" - Aakash Chopra unhappy with current format of T20 World Cups
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Aakash Chopra also expressed his displeasure with the group format of the T20 World Cup. He said the ICC should instead strive for a round-robin format where each team plays each other at least once followed by IPL-style playoffs.
Aakash Chopra said:
"No, personally I don't like it. I feel there should be a round-robin format where like the ODI World Cup, you remove the qualifying round and pick 10 teams - 8 teams direct qualification plus two teams. These 10 should play each other at least once and then there should be playoffs, not semi-final or final. The top-two teams should get two chances like in the IPL. That'll be a better format in my opinion. What's happening now isn't too nice because Group 2 was suddenly very weak, Group 1 was 'Group of Death', and teams weren't able to qualify despite winning four games. T20 is a short format so 10 teams should play each other. Here you will have nine games and if you still don't qualify then you don't deserve to."
The Men in Blue will be back in action on November 17 when India take on New Zealand in a three-match T20I series.