T20 World Cup 2021: "Kohli is our 6th bowling option" - Aakash Chopra on the biggest takeaways for Team India from the win against Australia
Aakash Chopra feels Virat Kohli presenting himself as the backup bowling option for Team India is one of the biggest takeaways from the warm-up encounter against Australia.
The Indian team is fretting over their sixth bowling option, with Hardik Pandya's inability to bowl being an area of concern. With none of the other batsmen too proficient with the ball in hand, Kohli might be the best alternative in case of any exigency.
While reflecting on Team India's takeaways from their win against Australia, Aakash Chopra picked Kohli bowling a couple of overs and Bhuvneshwar Kumar performing decently as a couple of standouts.
He said the following in a video shared on his YouTube channel:
"Kohli will be seen in the form of an all-rounder. He is our 6th bowling option. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has bowled well. That means he is still in the scheme of things for the game against Pakistan."
Virat Kohli is bowling to Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell. This is peak cricket. 🤯🤯 https://t.co/rJsIbJJrk4
While being happy about Varun Chakravarthy getting a bowl, the former India cricketer reckons he should have been given his full quota of overs. Aakash Chopra observed:
"We finally saw Varun Chakravarthy bowling, which is a fantastic thing but he was not given the full overs. He was bowled in the end and he conceded 23 runs in two overs, I understood why you were hiding him."
Team India did not field Chakravarthy in their first warm-up match against England. The mystery spinner bowled the 16th and 19th overs in yesterday's match and was taken to the cleaners by Marcus Stoinis.
"Suryakumar Yadav has scored runs" - Aakash Chopra on Team India's takeaways on the batting front
Aakash Chopra was also ecstatic about Suryakumar Yadav getting a decent hit and being amongst the runs. He reasoned:
"Suryakumar Yadav has scored runs. That is a big takeaway because you sent him up the order and the sort of unconventional shots he plays, they can only be played when you are in form. So he has called the form towards him."
The 44-year-old concluded by picking Rohit Sharma's half-century and Hardik Pandya finishing the match with a maximum as other positives for Team India. Aakash Chopra stated:
"Rohit Sharma made runs. Everyone feels happy seeing him in form. Hardik Pandya also hit a six to win the match, which also gladdened my heart."
A clinical chase with contributions from Rohit Sharma (60* off 41), Suryakumar Yadav (38* off 27) & KL Rahul (39 off 31), as 🇮🇳 beat 🇦🇺 comfortably by 9️⃣ wickets in their final warm-up match.
#PlayBold #TeamIndia #T20WorldCup https://t.co/mOjWhIRprr
Pandya got to face just eight deliveries in yesterday's match. The big hitter has not looked too convincing in the middle and it will be interesting to see if Team India stick with him as a specialist batter.