T20 World Cup 2021: “Let’s start picking players who bat there for their franchise” - Aakash Chopra on India’s middle-order woes
Aakash Chopra feels India need to start picking players who bat in the middle order for their IPL franchise in the T20 squad. According to him, in the present Indian side, top-order batters are playing in the middle order as well, which is hurting the balance of the team.
India struggled with their batting in the first two matches of the T20 World Cup 2021, scoring 151 for 7 against Pakistan and 110 for 7 against New Zealand. They posted 210 for 2 against Afghanistan, when the openers smashed fifties.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra blamed India’s selection policy for their middle-order muddle. He elaborated:
“If you are talking about T20 cricket, let’s start picking players who bat there for their franchise. That is the most important bit. As of now, we are picking the players who are scoring the highest number of runs. But most of them are top-order batters. Nobody bats in the middle-order for their franchise.”
Chopra further explained:
“If you play in the top three for your franchise, you should not be played at No. 5 or No. 6 for India. And if there is no place in the top-order, then such batters must be kept out of the playing XI. Select those players who bat at No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6 for their franchise consistently and score runs at that position. If we start picking top-order batters again for the middle-order, we will face the same issues all over again.”
“You always have to put the team ahead of yourself” 🎙
#India opener @ImRo45 is the ultimate team man.
#T20WorldCup
t20worldcup.com/video/2337874
Giving the example of Pakistan's Asif Ali, he pointed out that batting in the middle and lower order is a specialized position. Chopra commented:
“Look at Asif Ali of Pakistan. He has played small knocks but those have been very impactful. That can only happen when you have batted at that position for a long time. That needs to change (for India).”
Asif Ali smashed 27* off 12 against New Zealand and 25* off 7 against Afghanistan, lifting Pakistan to victory from tense circumstances in both matches.
The complete list of all T20 World Cup 2021 teams is available here.
India face Scotland in another must-win clash on Friday
Always smiling 😁
Happy birthday to #India captain Virat Kohli.
Will he get a win tonight as a present?
#T20WorldCup https://t.co/8ck8fH0wQL
Meanwhile, India’s middle order could be tested again as they take on Scotland in a Super 12 clash on Friday in Dubai. India will need to win the game by a comprehensive margin to stay alive in the race for the semi-finals.
The Indian team found some form against Afghanistan as Rohit Sharma scored 74 and KL Rahul 69. Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, who were promoted up the order, played handy cameos.
On the bowling front, while Ravichandran Ashwin starred with 2 for 14, Mohammed Shami claimed 3 for 32.