Aakash Chopra wants the second most gifted Indian player to be a part of England Test tour

Team India will soon embark on their tour to the United Kingdom where they will first play the two T20 Internationals against Ireland. 3 T20Is and the same number of ODIs follow soon after which the real test of Virat Kohli and his men will commence. There will be a lot of talk about the combinations of the team as it had created the controversy during South Africa tour earlier this year. However, Aakash Chopra believes that the second most gifted Indian batsman should get to play all five Test matches of the series.

Team India has struggled a lot in England, especially in Tests, over the years. In 2011, they were whitewashed by 4-0 while in 2014 they managed to win the Lord’s Test match but then went on to lose 3 out of the next 4 games and conceded the series by 3-1. They fail to counter the threat of the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad with the new ball and the bowlers too tail off after starting well.

Who is the player?

Aakash Chopra, in his recent video on Twitter, has termed  KL Rahul as the second most gifted batsman in the Indian team after Virat Kohli and wants him to play all the Tests of the series against England. ” KL Rahul has to play almost five Test matches in England because he has the special ability to take the games away from the opposition. I rate him as the second most gifted player in the team across all formats after Virat Kohli,” he said.

However, the former Indian batsman didn’t forget to put light on Rahul’s inability to convert his half-centuries into big scores. His last Test century came against England in 2016 in Chennai where he had scored 199 runs. “Rahul, since his last ton in the format, has played 12 Test matches and has not crossed the three-figure mark. He has scored runs consistently but has not converted it into a big one. He has managed 10 scores of over 50 in this period but the fact he is getting out after his half-century is a matter of concern,” Chopra added.

Even against Afghanistan, the stylish right-hander looked at ease but was guilty of throwing his wicket away after passing the score of 50. It is almost certain that he will travel to England for the Test series as well courtesy of his scintillating form but it remains to be seen if he would be able to make it to the playing XI.

Here’s the video:

KL Rahul. Kamaal Lajawaab Rahul. The second most gifted batsman in the Indian team. But what have been his shortcomings in Test cricket? Here's my take on today's #AakashVani. pic.twitter.com/fwkSTtnLmI

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 19, 2018

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