Aakash Chopra : Why KL Rahul Should Retain His Spot in India’s Playing XI for the Second Test Against Australia : The Indian cricket team will take on Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, set to begin on Friday, February 17, at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. While India secured an emphatic win in the series opener, opener KL Rahul managed only 20 runs, leading to speculation that he might be dropped for the second Test. However, former cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that Rahul is being unfairly targeted, and that he should retain his spot in the playing XI. Here’s why.
Shreyas Iyer to Replace Suryakumar Yadav : Aakash Chopra
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said that he did not see much scope for change in the Indian batting lineup. The only change he suggested was to bring in Shreyas Iyer in place of Suryakumar Yadav. According to Chopra, KL Rahul should not be dropped just because Shubman Gill is waiting in the wings. Chopra explained that an incumbent player should not become bad just because there is someone else waiting to take his place.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s 100th Test
Cheteshwar Pujara is set to play his 100th Test match for India in the second Test against Australia. Pujara was dismissed cheaply in the first Test, but Chopra believes that the Saurashtra player will want to make his milestone occasion memorable by playing a substantial knock.
Seamers in the Bowling Attack
Chopra believes that India will persist with Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj as the two seamers in their bowling attack. Jaydev Unadkat has been released and is not in the team’s scheme of things. According to Chopra, only two fast bowlers will play in the second Test, and Umesh Yadav is unlikely to get a chance. Chopra feels that playing more than two fast bowlers is illegal if the match is being played in India.
Kuldeep Yadav or Axar Patel?
In the spin-bowling department, the Indian team management will have to make a choice between Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. Chopra believes that if the pitch is even slightly less helpful for the spinners, Kuldeep should be the preferred option. However, he thinks that Axar will play as it would be almost impossible to drop him after his exploits with the bat in the first Test.
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Why KL Rahul Should Retain His Spot in the Playing XI
Chopra believes that KL Rahul is being unfairly targeted, and that he should retain his spot in the playing XI for the second Test against Australia. Here’s why:
- KL Rahul has a good record as an opener. He has scored over 1500 runs in Test cricket at an average of 36.10.
- KL Rahul has had a good run of form in recent domestic matches. In the Ranji Trophy, he scored 598 runs at an average of 66.44.
- Dropping KL Rahul after just one bad innings would be unfair to him. Players need to be given a fair chance to prove their worth.
- Shubman Gill may be a talented batsman, but he has yet to make his debut in Test cricket. Chopra believes that it would be unfair to drop Rahul and bring in Gill without giving Rahul a fair chance to prove himself.
- The Indian team should back their players and not make knee-jerk decisions based on one bad performance. KL Rahul has shown that he has the ability to perform at the highest level, and he should be given the opportunity to do so.
Conclusion
Aakash Chopra believes that KL Rahul should retain his spot in