"That leaves you slightly befuddled" - Aakash Chopra on Suryakumar Yadav's omission from India's squad for WI Tests
Aakash Chopra is flummoxed by the Indian selectors' call to leave out Suryakumar Yadav from India's Test squad for the West Indies tour.
The selectors named the Indian squad for the two-match Test series and the three ODIs against the West Indies on Friday, June 23. While Suryakumar has been picked in the ODI squad, he was ignored for the longest format.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on some of the inclusions and exclusions in both squads. Regarding Suryakumar's omission from the Test team after being among the reserves for the WTC final, he said:
"Suryakumar Yadav, who was part of the team for the WTC final, is not part of the West Indies Test team and that leaves you slightly befuddled that why did they do that. He played only one Test before this, so why was he a part of the team for the WTC final?"
While observing that Jaydev Unadkat has been picked ahead of Arshdeep Singh as the left-arm seamer in both squads, the former Indian opener opined that Mohammad Shami might have been rested in both formats:
"Shardul Thakur is a part of both teams. Jaydev Unadkat is actually a part of both teams and Arshdeep Singh is not part of any of the teams. Mohammad Shami is also not there. He might have probably been rested."
Chopra reckons the Indian selectors weren't spoilt for choice in the seam-bowling department due to the fitness-related unavailability of some of the pacers:
"Mukesh Kumar is interestingly part of both teams. Umran Malik is a part of the ODI team but not the Test team. Navdeep Saini has been kept in the Test team, he has not been kept in the ODI team. I feel the rest of the fast-bowling contenders are not fully fit."
Umesh Yadav, who was part of India's playing XI for the WTC final, has also not been picked in the Test squad. There is no communication about whether the Vidarbha pacer has been rested or dropped.
"All of them will not play" - Aakash Chopra on the four spinners in India's ODI squad
Aakash Chopra reckons India might not be able to give chances to all four of the spinners they have picked in the ODI squad:
"If you see the ODI team, lots of spin options. I am seeing four spin options - Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. All of them will not play although spinners play a little more in West Indies these days."
It will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma opts to play both Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in the XI, considering they bring similar attributes to the table. Although Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are enticing attacking options, fielding both of them together might compromise the batting depth.