Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said India’s top five batters need to score at least 300 runs in the three-match Test series against New Zealand for it to be termed a good series for them as well. He also added that even 250 runs would suffice for KL Rahul as he bats down the order.

In a video on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “It’s a three-match series. Let’s start putting some parameters as to what performance will you term excellent. You get four to five, and sometimes six innings as a batter. If the two openers are in the 350-400 run bracket, you are outstanding. You assume at least 200-250 runs for an average series,” he said.

“It’s the same parameter for Shubman Gill at No. 3 and Virat Kohli at No. 4, that if it’s an excellent series, 350-plus, or else I would say 300 to 350 will also be considered a good series. You might have slightly lesser expectations from KL Rahul. A good series for KL Rahul can be even 250 runs because he bats very low. When you bat so low, it’s time for declaration at times and you bat with the tail on a few occasions. He might not get to bat in the second innings at times. All those things do happen. So probably slightly fewer runs for him, but till Rishabh Pant, the top five, the criteria are almost similar for everyone,” he shared again.

In the same video, Aakash Chopra also stated that 15 wickets and 150 runs apiece would be a good series for the veteran Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

“Then come our two all-rounders. What is expected from them? 15 wickets and 150 runs. They actually score more, they make 200-250, but with 15 wickets and 150 runs, you will say that they have had a good series. You will expect 12 to 14 wickets from Kuldeep as well because he is the third spinner. Among fast bowlers, if Bumrah plays all three matches, 13 to 14 wickets is fairly good. You are happy if you get 10 to 11 wickets from Siraj in a three-match series because you don’t get that much bowling,” Aakash Chopra concluded.