"Why are you blaming one person?" - Aakash Chopra on Suryakumar Yadav's trolling ahead of leading India in T20I series vs Australia
Aakash Chopra has questioned critics for trolling Suryakumar Yadav after India's loss in the 2023 World Cup final against Australia.
The World Cup finalists will lock horns in a five-match T20I series, with the first game to be played in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. Suryakumar, who scored a 28-ball 18 in the World Cup final, has been named the Men in Blue's captain.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra hit out at trolls attributing India's loss to Suryakumar's failure. He said (2:35):
"Suryakumar Yadav has been made the captain because he didn't get opportunities to do a lot in the World Cup. When he got a chance in the final, he couldn't do much and because of that, he has been trolled a lot. It pains you at times. Why are you blaming one person?"
The former India opener pointed out that the Ahmedabad pitch wasn't to the unconventional batter's liking and that other players too failed to deliver the goods. He elaborated:
"It was a difficult pitch and he didn't fire. That pitch probably didn't suit him that much as well. He scored runs against England and didn't get a chance to score runs in other games. Even Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer didn't score runs in the final, so why are you blaming him?"
Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer managed four runs apiece in the World Cup final. India were bowled out for 240 and eventually lost the game by six wickets.
"You cannot make Yashasvi Jaiswal sit out" - Aakash Chopra
With Ruturaj Gaikwad being named as the vice-captain for the first three T20Is, Aakash Chopra highlighted the selection conundrum for the openers' positions. He explained (4:10):
"Ruturaj Gaikwad is being given a lot of attention because he was the captain in the Asian Games and won a gold medal there as well. I think it's going to be very interesting because you cannot make Yashasvi Jaiswal sit out."
Chopra reckons the right-hander might have to bat at No. 3 to accommodate Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order. He stated:
"The way Yashasvi is playing and he hit there (Asian Games) as well, he is a damn good cricketer. So if you get Yashasvi Jaiswal to open alongside Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj might play at No. 3, or else if you do an amazing job by making Yashasvi sit out - I don't know. It's going to be difficult."
Jaiswal has smashed 232 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 161.11 in seven T20I innings. The southpaw smoked a 49-ball 100 in India's quarterfinal win against Nepal in the Asian Games last month.