“There is a lot of inconsistency in selection”

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Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that too many changes are being made to the Indian squad on a regular basis by the selectors. The current team, which is undergoing a transition period of sorts, has a crucial two-year phase coming up involving three ICC events.

Chopra used the period between the 2019 World Cup and the 2021 T20 World Cup as an example. The management largely backed a core group of players over the period, but made some questionable changes to the squad for the tournament in the UAE.

A brand new spin attack was chosen and several players found themselves on the stand-by list as well.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra said:

“There is a lot of inconsistency in selection. The selection style becomes different all of a sudden. After losing the 2019 WC semis, you prepare a team after plenty of white ball series for the T20 WC. Right when the team is ready, and the tournament is closing by, the thinking becomes like for example ‘Chahal cannot be selected, he bowls slow’.”

He added:

“But he has been bowling slow for the last two years, why is he not in the scheme of things now? Suddenly everything changes, Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Chahar are selected and Deepak Chahar is ignored, R Ashwin comes out of nowhere. Honestly speaking, consistency is necessary.”

Rohit Sharma said, “Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been great performers for India in the past, they’ve created great impact. They were left out due to different combinations we wanted, but it’s certainly on my mind to get them back together”.

Now that the wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are back in the mix, Chopra urged the management to deploy them in all three ODIs against the West Indies. The former player continued:

“Kuldeep and Chahal should 100% play together. So what [if] they once conceded runs once in Birmingham, everyone concedes sometime or the other. According to me if you’re making so many radical changes, then you don’t have trust in the selection. Now that Kuldeep and Chahal are included, play them together. “

Chopra added:

“Another trouble is that there are so many spinners for a three-match series. You’ve got Bishnoi and Sundar as well; who will Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma give the chances to? These two should play all the three ODIs together. Leg-spinners are a captain’s bowler, they need some trust.”

Kuldeep Yadav was last seen on India‘s tour of Sri Lanka last year. He missed the second leg of the IPL due to a serious knee injury. Chahal, meanwhile, was recently seen on the tour of South Africa, but lacked potency and was accused of bowling rather defensively.

“Don’t think there is a replacement for a batting all-rounder at the moment” – Aakash Chopra on India’s balance

Team India have struggled to find balance in their team since Hardik Pandya’s inability to bowl on a regular basis. The all-rounder has been battling injury issues and is doubtful to contribute with the ball even for the Ahmedabad franchise in the IPL.

Chopra noted that there is a lack of batting all-rounders and feels there is no one at the moment that can replace Pandya in the team. He said:

“Don’t really know who will be India’s leading all-rounder after [Ravindra] Jadeja if Pandya has a lean IPL. Pandya is a one-of-a-kind player. No one has his batting ability.”

Chopra concluded:

“Ahmedabad has picked him as their number one choice and made him captain despite not knowing whether he can bowl or not, that’s the kind of batting that he has. He can win games on his own with his batting itself. Don’t think there is a replacement for a batting all-rounder at the moment. He cannot be replaced by Chahar or Thakur.”

Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have shown their batting credentials on occasion, but are still bowling all-rounders at the end of the day. The other contenders come in the form of Vijay Shankar and Shivam Dube, who have been inconsistent in warranting a case for themselves in the national team.