Nikhil Chopra picks his spin bowlers for Indian team in T20 World Cup 2022

Although the Indian team secured three victories in five matches of the Super 12 stage in T20 World Cup 2021, they were unable to seal the semi-final spots due to the losses against Pakistan and New Zealand. One of the primary reasons for the team’s ordinary performances was the team’s inability to pick wickets in a consistent manner, and the absence of a quality spinner. The former Indian cricketer turned commentator Nikhil Chopra chose his spin bowlers for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia later in the year.

Chopra chose Ravindra Jadeja as his first-choice spinner for his all-around abilities and thinks he has improved quite well as a batter in recent years and will be a definite pick for the tournament. In T20 World Cup 2021, Jadeja finished with a total of seven wickets and 39 runs in five appearances.

Indian team needs a combination of a finger spinner and a wrist spinner: Nikhil Chopra

On being asked about the parameter to choose spinners for the ICC event, Chopra reckoned that he will look if the bowler has the quality to turn the ball and can beat the batters on most occasions. He added that Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has been impressive to pick wickets with lbw or bowled dismissals and is successful in his attempt to stun the batters, and Team India needs the same type of bowler.

“I will check if he has the potential to turn the ball, or once it pitches does it do enough,  and have fine variations to beat the batters. Like I have got Chahal who has predominantly picked wickets near the boundary at one end,  I need to have the other spinner who would break the defense of the batters when they work in tandem. I already have a finger spinner in the form of Jadeja, and it will be a competition between Chahal and Chahar for the wrist spinner’s slot,” said Nikhil Chopra on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket Show’ on CricTracker.

Nikhil Chopra felt the team needs a quality wrist spinner, along with Jadeja as a finger spinner. He thinks Yuzvendra Chahal has picked most of the wickets near the boundary line and is an attacking wicket-taking option, but the other spinner needs to be able to break the defences to have a solid combination working in the middle to contain the opposition.

Chopra further went on to say that Rahul Chahar can deliver well with conventional leg-spin in Australia and chose Ravi Bishnoi as the fourth spinner. However, he thinks that these players need to prove their talent in the T20 Asia Cup scheduled to take place in August-September 2022.

Nikhil Chopra’s spin bowlers for T20 World Cup 2022: Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Chahar