"You have to give Surya a complete vote of confidence" - Aakash Chopra wants Suryakumar Yadav to continue batting at No. 4
Aakash Chopra wants Suryakumar Yadav to be persisted with at the No. 4 position in the third and final ODI between India and Australia in Chennai on Wednesday, March 22.
Yadav looked all at sea against Mitchell Starc's incoming deliveries in the first two ODIs and was dismissed for golden ducks. However, the Mumbai batter is expected to retain his spot in the hosts' playing XI for the series decider.
While previewing the third ODI in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the Indian team management should continue to repose their trust in Suryakumar Yadav, elaborating:
"The question was whether Suryakumar Yadav should be kept at No. 4 or No. 5. For now, you have to give Surya a complete vote of confidence, which the captain will give as well. You have given him two innings, if he got out two times, so be it. He has not scored runs in the last 10 innings - it is fact."
Chopra believes India's Mr 360 should be given another chance to prove his credentials at No. 4, stating:
"However, once you believe in someone, give him the full chance. So if we picked you for No. 4 at the start, we are keeping you at No. 4 now also. You go and negotiate because if you don't do well here, then we will start thinking of something else."
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Suryakumar Yadav has been unable to replicate his T20I performances in ODI cricket. The Mumbai Indians player has aggregated 433 runs in 22 ODIs at an underwhelming average of 25.47. He has an even poorer record this year, having averaged a lowly 9.80 in five innings.
"Hardik Pandya the batter has to come to the fore" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra expects better performances from Hardik Pandya with the bat, saying:
"Hardik Pandya the batter has to come to the fore because you expect more from him. The series has been extremely lukewarm based on his standards. Mitchell Marsh went after him in the one over he bowled in the last match as though there was some personal enmity."
Chopra wants the Men in Blue to retain Axar Patel in the playing XI on the usually spinner-friendly Chepauk surface, observing:
"If you have more spin here, we have Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. You can play Axar Patel once again and you will have three proper spinners. So for Chennai, you can think that you have to play Axar. You can play an exactly identical XI to the one you played in the last match."
Axar scored an unbeaten 29 but failed to pick up a wicket in the three overs he bowled in the second ODI. Rohit Sharma and Co. have the option to play Washington Sundar as the third spinner if they want to add variety to the attack in the form of an off-spinner.