Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has said that he can strengthen their batting in the second Test against England if they are willing to get over the five-bowler theory.
India faced a setback with a 28-run loss in the first Test in Hyderabad. Their challenges have increased as Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul are unavailable for the second game which is set to begin in Visakhapatnam on Friday, February 2.
While having a conversation on his official YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said that Indians can play both Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan in their playing XI.
“India has a slight selection dilemma. You want to give debuts to both Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan. You also want to play both Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav. If you want to do all of that, you will have to play 12 and not 11. A theory could be not to play five bowlers.”
The former Indian opener suggests that Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Jasprit Bumrah could constitute the bowling attack for the hosts.
“You can say that you are happy with four bowlers and that you will play three spinners and one fast bowler in the form of Bumrah. Then my three spinners would be Kuldeep, Axar Patel, and Ravichandran Ashwin. So I have a left-arm spinner, an off-spinner, and a left-arm leg-spinner.”
“If that is India’s playing XI, then you can play Yashasvi (Jaiswal), Rohit (Sharma), (Shubman) Gill, Patidar, (Shreyas) Iyer, and Sarfaraz Khan as the top six and you can keep Bharat at No. 7, and then you have got four bowlers.”
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Aakash Chopra also highlighted that if Washington Sundar is included in the playing XI as the fifth bowler, it will be difficult to place Rajat and Sarfaraz Khan in the same playing XI.
“That could be a theory but India has committed to play five bowlers. If they go with that viewpoint, if you try to fit in Washington Sundar, then one of Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz will have to sit out, which is not going to be an easy thing.”
