T20 World Cup 2022: Opening is not working, it is a major concern – Aakash Chopra on India’s woes

India suffered their first defeat of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 as they were beaten by South Africa by five wickets at the Perth Stadium, Perth on Sunday. Indian captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain KL Rahul could only add 23 runs for the opening partnership after the former won the toss and decided to bat first.

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra opined that opening is not working and it is a major concern for the team. India’s opening pair haven’t been able to give a solid start to the team in the three matches of the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Both KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have adopted a defensive approach in all three matches and they haven’t looked at their best. Rohit Sharma had scored 53 runs against the Netherlands but he could not hit the top gear.

Aakash Chopra said while talking on his YouTube channel, “Opening is not working. The opening partnership has probably not contributed a total of 50 runs in the three matches, one of which was against the Netherlands. So that is a major concern.”

Chopra claimed that India’s top three are the best in the world but the openers’ form has been a major concern as both the batters haven’t been at their best.

“We went with the belief that our No. 1, 2 and 3 are the best in the world. The No. 3 (Virat Kohli) is playing like the best. The No. 1 (Rohit Sharma) also scored a fifty, that too was not a very confident knock but the No. 2 (KL Rahul), his bat has not struck the ball properly till now. So our opening form is a very big concern.”

On the other hand, the renowned commentator believes India could have played Yuzvendra Chahal in the final XI as they were going in with seven batters.

“Second, I am going to talk about the strategy. If you want to play seven batters, you could have played Yuzi Chahal. Ashwin has picked up just one wicket in four matches he has played against South Africa, three in India and one here. You probably don’t need Ashwin’s batting if you have played seven batters.”

Chopra feels India’s fielding has been their Achilles Heel in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

“Fielding and catching, that’s my last thing. In 2022, if six catches come to us, we catch four and drop two. Here also we dropped a catch. We miss run-outs, your run-saving standards are extremely low. These three things are pulling us down.”

India will take on Bangladesh at the SCG on Wednesday.