Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has named his Indian playing XI for their T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up match against South Africa. He opined on whether Suryakumar Yadav could bat at No. 3 to avoid having all lefthanders in the top three as well. However, India will take on South Africa in their only warm-up game before the T20 World Cup 2026 in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday, February 4 as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “What can be the XI for this game? I feel you will have to play Ishan Kishan with Abhishek Sharma now, even though Suryakumar Yadav said that day that we might be feeling that Ishan Kishan wore gloves because he has been finalized, but it was their plan that they had to make Sanju Samson keep in three games and Ishan in two, but since Ishan didn’t play the fourth match, how could they have made him keep?”

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“I am wondering why WK was written in front of Sanju’s name if you were going to do that. You could have written it in front of Ishan Kishan’s name and we also wouldn’t have talked like that. So I don’t know whether it was a last-minute decision or not, but I see Ishan opening. I see Tilak coming at No. 3. There will be a slight realization as well that if you are playing three left-handers in the top three, is that the way we want to go, or else Surya at No. 3 and Tilak at No. 4. Can you do that job?” Chopra again shared.

However, Aakash Chopra also wondered whether Shivam Dube would be promoted before Hardik Pandya, with Rinku Singh continuing to play the finisher’s role as well.

“Will we send ‘Shaktimaan’ Dube slightly up the order and move Hardik slightly down the order? That could be another thought process, and that we will keep reliable Rinku down the order so that he can finish. After that, what will be Axar Patel’s role?” he said.

“In bowling, I feel neither Kuldeep nor Ravi’s number would come. Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, that’s it. They will be your three bowlers, plus Axar, Hardik and Shivam, and that is your bowling department,” Aakash Chopra concluded.