According to Aakash Chopra, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are vying for a berth in the Indian T20I team, and the former must perform well at bat in order to hold onto his position.
On Thursday in Johannesburg, the Men in Blue will play the last Twenty20 International in a three-match series against South Africa. In the visitors’ five-wicket DLS defeat in the second game two days prior, Jadeja struck for 19 off of 14 balls and finished with statistics of 0/28 in 2.5 overs.
In a video previewing the third T20I on his YouTube channel, Chopra stated that the vice-captain’s tag in the existing series may not help Jadeja retain his job in the future. He elaborated:
“I will want Rinku Singh to score runs once again. Jitesh (Sharma) and Ravindra Jadeja should score runs. Jaddu needs to score runs because there is going to be a toss-up between Jaddu and Axar Patel, and it’s not that Axar is too far behind because he (Jadeja) is the vice-captain.”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener went on to say:
“Vice-captain does not have any value these days because Shreyas Iyer was the vice-captain. Before that, Ajinkya Rahane was the vice-captain in Tests. The selectors straightaway drop players these days. I don’t know how they do that.”
Aakash Chopra
Shreyas Iyer held the position of India’s co-leader in the concluding pair of T20Is during the most recent series against Australia. However, he wasn’t selected to play in the final game against South Africa. Ajinkya Rahane was the second-in-command to Rohit Sharma for the two Tests against the West Indies but has been removed from India’s team for the impending Test series against the Proteas.
“Yashasvi and Shubman were both dismissed for ducks, so you will expect runs from them” – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra would also want to see Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill in the running. He went on to say:
“The problem for the Indian team is that both openers were dismissed for ducks. I think (Ajinkya) Rahane and Rohit (Sharma) were the last such openers six or seven years ago. Here Yashasvi and Shubman were both dismissed for ducks, so you will expect runs from them.”
Aakash Chopra
If Tilak Varma is in the starting XI, the renowned analyst has advised Suryakumar Yadav to employ him with the ball. He stated:
“If Tilak Varma plays, will Shreyas Iyer be seen carrying drinks here as well? I have got no idea how they decide. If you are playing Tilak, get him to bowl. If you are saying that you are finally going to play a batter in the top six who can bowl, then get him to bowl for sure.”
Aakash Chopra
Chopra wondered if India will modify their lineup if Ruturaj Gaikwad was available. He did, however, believe that they should remain with the same starting XI, pointing out that changes after just one loss would signal that they had panicked.