Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has suggested two changes to Team India’s playing XI for the one-off T20I against Japan. The game is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 22, at the Sano International Cricket
Ground. India were last in action on Thursday, September 17, in Delhi, where they defeated Afghanistan by 127 runs to complete a 3-0 series sweep as well.

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel (Aakash Chopra), he said: “See, once again, this is a match where you could think about resting Abhishek Sharma. We would say, ‘Let Abhishek sit this one out, it’s okay. You go and play in the Asian Games.’ We can bring Vaibhav in as an opener alongside Sanju Samson. I would expect this one change for sure. This is something you should definitely do.”

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“Jasprit Bumrah is also part of the squad for the Asian Games. I wouldn’t play Jasprit Bumrah in this match. I’d say, ‘Come on, let the other bowlers play.’ I mean, you don’t want to put out your absolute A1, plus-plus team because the challenge coming from the opposition is not going to be that big,” he again added.

In the same video, Aakash Chopra also opined on the pitch, claiming that it would be a hybrid surface comprising natural and synthetic grass. He also added that the surface would help batters by offering less assistance to the bowlers.

Aakash Chopra concluded: “It’s a decent-sized ground, not a very big one. You may not have known this, but this ground has a hybrid pitch. A hybrid pitch is one that has some natural grass and some synthetic grass on it. Once you add synthetic grass, it becomes a much truer batting surface. After the ball pitches, it tends to skid a little, and this type of pitch also lasts for a very long time. It requires less maintenance, but it also offers a little less assistance to the bowlers. So, the reality is that there isn’t much seam movement, nor is there much spin.”