Aakash Chopra picks India’s 17-member squad for tour of Sri Lanka
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has picked Team India’s 17-member squad that will tour Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series in the month of July. It is to be noted here that all the Indian players who are traveling to England for the World Test Championship (WTC) final will not be available for the series against Sri Lanka.
Aakash Chopra stated that Shikhar Dhawan should lead the Indian side. Chopra also opined that the duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw should open the batting for India. The cricketer turned commentator reasoned out that Shaw has been in excellent form and will be the frontrunner for the openers slot.
Chopra then picked Shreyas Iyer in the side and opined that Iyer should play if he is available. Chopra then slotted Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan at No.4 and No.5.
“Shikhar Dhawan the captain because we have seen in the last two years that he is upgrading his software and batting with great responsibility. Along with him, I am picking Prithvi Shaw. The form we have seen from him, I feel he should be the front-runner in this race. After that Shreyas Iyer if he is available. There is a talk of him playing county cricket but it would be better if you keep him for the six encounters here. Then Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, although Mumbai Indians dropped him halfway through,” said Chopra on his YouTube Channel.
Aakash Chopra picks Hardik Pandya as the vice-captain of the Indian side
Aakash Chopra picked the Pandya brothers and stated that Hardik Pandya should be the vice-captain of the Indian side. Chopra then picked the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the side and added that Chahar and Kumar should bowl in the powerplay.
“Hardik Pandya will be my vice-captain. And then Krunal Pandya. He played the last ODI series against England and performed well also. After that Yuzi Chahal. Deepak Chahar whose performances have been outstanding with the white-ball. He should be given a chance in ODIs as well. If Bhuvi and he bowl together, our powerplay problem of not taking wickets can also be sorted out,” said Chopra.
Chopra then picked RCB pacer Navdeep Saini and Sunrisers Hyderabad left-arm seamer Thangarasu Natarajan. Chopra then opined that Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy will act as the two extra spinners in the side. He also reserved a place for right arm pacer Prasidh Krishna as well.
“After that Navdeep Saini, he has also been kept in cold storage. Neither India is playing him nor RCB. But I will keep him in my team because he was part of the team when India went to Australia and played a Test match also. There is a question mark about T Natarajan’s injury. But if he is fit, he will go of course. Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy are the two extra spinners I have kept. I have also given place to Prasidh Krishna in my team,” said Chopra.
Chopra then picked the likes of Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda as well. He reasoned that Samson has scored a century in the 14th edition of the IPL, and Deepak Hooda is an explosive batsman.
“Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda, I will keep both these players. Sanju Samson has been playing good cricket, scored a century this year as well. Deepak Hooda has shown that he can be an explosive batsman at No.6 or No.7 and he can bowl a bit of off-spin,” concluded Aakash Chopra.
Aakash Chopra’s Indian squad for India’s tour of Sri Lanka: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Navdeep Saini, T Natarajan, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Prasidh Krishna.
