"Only one batter from our WTC final team has an average over 40 in this decade" - Aakash Chopra on Indian batters' poor Test numbers since 2020
Aakash Chopra has highlighted the Indian batters' underwhelming Test numbers in the last few years.
Rohit Sharma and Co. suffered a 209-run loss in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval in London. While Australia scored a mammoth 469 in their first innings on a green top, India failed to post a 300-plus total in either innings.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that India's batting has been a long-term issue:
"Will you believe me if I say that from the year 2020 to 2023, only one batter from our WTC final team has an average over 40 in this decade - only one batter in that entire team that was playing against Australia at The Oval, believe it or not."
The former Indian opener highlighted that Rohit Sharma was the only batter in the WTC final side to have averaged more than 40 in the last three years:
"Rohit Sharma is at the top. He has played 18 matches and he has an average of 43.2, which is a very decent number. It is good because when he plays in India he scores daddy hundreds and his England tour was very good, he scored a lot of runs. He play that well in the final but still scored a few runs."
Chopra added that Shubman Gill, who has the second-best numbers, has averaged in the low thirties:
"Who is at the second spot - Shubman Gill, who has now played 16 matches in the last three years and has an average of 32. He is no longer the future of Indian cricket, he is the present of Indian cricket."
Chopra also observed that KL Rahul, who has also batted at the top of the order quite often in the last few years but was unavailable for the WTC final, has an average of 30 in 11 games.
"He has an average of 29 in 25 matches" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli's numbers
Aakash Chopra pointed out that Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli have averaged below 30:
"Cheteshwar Pujara has played 28 matches including the finals and has an average of 29.69. Virat Kohli has absolutely identical numbers in terms of average - he has an average of 29 in 25 matches. That's your No. 3 and No. 4. One of your two openers (either Gill or Rahul) has an average around 30 and the other has an average of 43."
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Ajinkya Rahane has even poorer numbers:
"Now you will feel that at least Rahane's numbers will be good. Ajinkya Rahane has played 20 games and his average is also 26. This is your top five. These numbers are now telling a story."
Chopra concluded by stating that India missed Rishabh Pant in the WTC final. He highlighted that the wicketkeeper-batter is the only player apart from Rohit to average more than 40 since 2020.