“I am with you. We have two kinds of problems. Our tail doesn’t bat and our top order doesn’t bowl. They should bowl a little at least. I am not saying that you need to give 15-odd overs, that you should have a player like Jacques Kallis, or like they (South Africa) are playing Wiaan Mulder at No. 3, or Aiden Markram is bowling a lot,” responded Chopra.
The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that Team India would have a better balance if someone from their top order can bowl a few overs.
“It will work out even if that’s not the case. That’s not something you need to focus on. However, you need a little bit of bowling at least because you get some balance, options, and choices with that. However, that doesn’t happen because our batters don’t bowl,” he added.
Another fan asked Chopra whether Axar Patel can be tried at no.3 or no.6, considering his ability to contribute with both bat and ball. However, he decided to go against that route.
“I don’t know which format you are talking about. If you are talking about Test cricket, he cannot play at No. 3. He shouldn’t play at No. 6 as well. You have your proper batters till No. 6. So I won’t go down that route. In T20Is, he is already the Indian team’s vice-captain, and he was playing in ODIs too, and doing well. So I am not actually worried about that,” he said.
India lost the first Test of the five-match series against England earlier this week in Leeds. The second Test starts July 2 in Birmingham.
Leave a Reply