Former India opener turned famous commentator Aakash Chopra has made his predictions for the third and final T20I between Team India and the West Indies to be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 20. India have already won the series with one game to spare. However, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant won’t be part of the match on Sunday as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra predicted: “Ruturaj Gaikwad and Suryakumar Yadav will together score more than 60 runs. I see them batting at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. I feel Roston Chase will pick up more than two wickets today as well. He is a clever bowler. More than 12 sixes will be hit in this match, that is what I feel. I feel 3-0, India will win today as well, we will not take the name of stopping, we are going to play that well.”
However, he has also picked his preferred Indian XI for the final game while he believed the game is important for Ishan Kishan. He has also picked Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer as the other players in his lineup as well.
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He said: “It is a very important match for Ishan Kishan because we see Ruturaj playing but I don’t see Ruturaj opening the batting. I feel Ruturaj will play at No.3, Ishan Kishan will open alongside Rohit Sharma. So you are getting a chance but Sanju Samson will come in the next series. If Ishan Kishan scores runs here then fine, else he might have to make way by the time the next series comes.”
He elaborated: “I feel Ruturaj will play well, he will score runs today. After that, at No.4 I feel you will send Shreyas Iyer instead of Suryakumar Yadav. At No.5, you will send Surya and Venkatesh at No.6. That’s the batting combination I think is going to happen.”
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“After that – Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Bishnoi, Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. This is the XI I am seeing. I don’t think you will be able to see Kulcha [Kuldeep and Chahal] together. I feel there will be slight pressure on Deepak Chahar because when we are doing man-to-man marking between Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the scales are tilted towards Bhuvneshwar at the moment. This was that litmus test where both of them are playing together, there is no conjecture,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
Aakash Chopra’s Indian XI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal
