Former India player Aakash Chopra has slammed the pitch for the first Test against South Africa. He also questioned whether India needed to prepare a rank turner to beat South Africa, stating that such scripts have backfired multiple times as well. However, South Africa beat India by 30 runs in Kolkata on Sunday, November 16 as well.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Chopra said, “If you had to prepare this only, the South Africa A match, through which you were preparing Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, and the other players, should have been played on a rank turner. Although Shubman Gill missed out here, he was coming from Australia. Do you need such a pitch? It’s an ideological question. Is this the best chance for India to win?”

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“It’s not about my skill, temperament, or technique. It’s about the team, whether the Indian team will progress in the WTC or not. Is there only one way for India to win the match against South Africa? We have seen this against New Zealand as well, before that against Australia in Indore, against Australia in Pune, and against South Africa in Nagpur. We have seen this script before,” he further added.

However, Aakash Chopra also shared that Temba Bavuma’s half-century was important in the game.

“It’s not about my skill, temperament, or technique. It’s about the team, whether the Indian team will progress in the WTC or not. Is there only one way for India to win the match against South Africa? We have seen this against New Zealand as well, before that against Australia in Indore, against Australia in Pune, and against South Africa in Nagpur. We have seen this script before,” Aakash Chopra concluded.