Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma© AFP
Former Indian cricket team batter Aakash Chopra believes that the selection of three spin-bowling all-rounders – Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel – for the Champions Trophy 2025 is a ‘defensive move’. Chopra compared the decision to the squad selection for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and said that this has become a recurring thing for the side. India went with extra all-rounders like Nitish Kumar Reddy and Sundar during the Test series but it did not work for them. He added that India need to pick bowlers ‘who take wickets’ and not ones based on their batting capabilities.
“The one overriding thought or theme was who all can bat because you need a batter at No. 8. So you picked Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. You could have picked a fast bowler instead of that, and if you needed a spinner only, then you could have picked Varun Chakaravarthy. I see two of the three spin-bowling all-rounders, who all bat left-handed, playing,” Chopra said on YouTube.
“All three are defensive options in ODI cricket. We consistently saw a slight lack of confidence in batting in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. We needed a batter at No. 8. So we are picking bowlers who can bat, and I feel it’s the same theme this time as well, which is not a great thing because you have to show confidence in your batting. You have to pick bowlers who take wickets,” Chopra added.
Chopra went on to say that the combination of four spinners and four fast bowling options (including all-rounder Hardik Pandya) may not be the best choice for India when it comes to playing in Dubai.
“It will be slightly cold in Dubai. A little dew might also come later in Dubai. There could be slightly more help for fast bowlers in Dubai. The Dubai pitch doesn’t and won’t help spinners much. It is rock-hard. It seems like the pitch has been made on a mountain,” Chopra said.
“Even if you continuously play for 10 days there, cracks aren’t formed at all. It can stay low but the ball doesn’t turn there and the square remains like that. So more fast bowlers are required and fewer spinners but India have picked four spinners,” he added.
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