Former Indian opener and commentator Aakash Chopra believes ace pacer Arshdeep Singh needs to be rested, with Mayank Yadav replacing him in the fourth T20I against New Zealand on Friday, October 30.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra requested the Indian team management, headed by Gautam Gambhir, to make that lone change in the final two dead rubbers. Notably, India sealed the five-game series 3-0 with two more games left.
“There is scope for one change for sure. Ask Arshdeep Singh to rest. Play both Mayank and Prince because you give chances to youngsters in dead rubbers. Mayank actually bowled well in the first match. So, why not play him? I am advocating for that one change,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“I won’t talk about playing spin here because there is actually no help for spinners here. You have to bowl short balls and make the batters access the side boundaries. The spinners can’t do that job. The fast bowlers can do that job. It might not be going well for Bhuvi, but he should be played all five games,” he added.
Further, Chopra asserted that Ishan Kishan, if deemed fit, needs to walk into the playing XI, adding that the team management should opt for a rotation policy for their top-order. Subsequently, he slammed Tilak Varma and Shreyas Iyer’s critics.
“If Ishan Kishan is available, he has to walk into the team. If he comes, who will go out? It is not an easy decision. You may be the best player on the planet, but since we have to accommodate Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and we want to keep all four together, I think you will have to take the support of rotation,” he said.
“Someone said Shreyas should be dropped. Someone wrote below that Tilak should be dropped. I said, ‘Don’t you watch the match.’ Tilak Varma won the match just now. How will you drop Tilak Varma? Shreyas Iyer had two bad matches, and you are saying he should be dropped,” Chopra concluded.
