Aakash Chopra picks India’s playing XI for the first T20I against Australia

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has put forth India’s probable playing eleven for the opening T20I against Australia at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. As his openers and number three, he went for KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli.

For the number four position, he went for Manish Pandey instead of Shreyas Iyer. Chopra feels that since Iyer will be a part of the Test team, Pandey deserves a chance and the latter shouldn’t come back not playing a single game on the tour.

“I am going with Manish Pandey at No.4. I have not picked Shreyas Iyer, I have picked Manish Pandey because I feel Iyer will be a part of the Test team as well but Pandeyji will come back without playing a match. That is not right,” Chopra was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.

I could have kept Sanju Samson as well, says Aakash Chopra

Chopra also thought about picking Kerala’s Sanju Samson but picked Pandey ahead of him due to more experience at the international level. Samson was a part of the T20I series in New Zealand earlier this year and got out cheaply on every other instance.

“I could have kept Sanju Samson as well at No.4 but I will have to play Pandeyji ahead of Sanju because in terms of hierarchy, he was selected first and played first and he gets fewer chances,” he stated.

As per Chopra, Washington Sundar should be able to play at the number seven slot. Apart from Sundar, he went for Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya as the other two all-rounders. Chopra also wants T Natarajan to make his T20I debut after the speedster impressed in the third ODI.

“After that my five bowlers – I will play one out of Bumrah and Shami, then Deepak Chahar, Natarajan, Chahal and Washington Sundar,” Chopra added.

In the ODI series, Team India’s bowling went under the pump after they conceded over 350 in the first couple of matches. However, they would be a tad relieved after their bowlers helped them win the third ODI by 13 runs.

Here’s the eleven-

KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah/Mohammed Shami, T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal