T20 World Cup 2022: Can’t you play Chahal with Axar instead of Ashwin? – Aakash Chopra questions India’s selection

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has questioned India’s selection in the ongoing T20 World Cup. India made one change to their playing XI against Bangladesh on Wednesday at Adelaide Oval as they brought back Axar Patel in place of Deepak Hooda.

Thus, Yuzvendra Chahal continued to stay on the bench as the team backed Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin in the final XI. Interestingly, Patel once again bowled a single over before the rain interruption and didn’t bowl at all after the match resumed.

Ashwin was given two overs by Rohit Sharma as the off-spinner conceded 19 runs but went wicketless. It was not the ideal conditions for the spinners as the ball was wet due to rain and thus Rohit gave only three overs to his spinners out of the 16 they had to bowl.

Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “You give Axar just one over, and then Ashwin isn’t picking wickets. Can’t you play Chahal with Axar instead of Ashwin? Was it the right decision to leave him out last year? I am not sure about this.”

On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik was once again dismissed cheaply as he could only manage seven runs off five balls before he was run out against Bangladesh. Chopra feels Rishabh Pant could play against Zimbabwe in the team’s next match on Sunday at the MCG.

“If you see man-to-man, Rishabh is a better wicketkeeper and is a left-hander, which gives you that option in the middle-order. As a team, you want to back and commit to the combination you have decided and so you may not need Pant in the game against Zimbabwe.

Chopra feels India must give Pant some game time before the semifinal stages.

“But what if you need him in the semifinal at Sydney against New Zealand? He doesn’t have any game time. So he could play in the last (league) game.”