Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra feels Team India caused problems for themselves by not selecting Sanju Samson in their main Asia Cup squad as KL Rahul’s backup as well. However, India will play against Pakistan in their tournament opener in Pallekele on Saturday, September 2. Notably, Samson is not part of the 17-member Indian squad and he has only been included as a travelling reserve.

On the AakashVani show on JioCinema, Chopra said: “I don’t know what is the right answer to this. The right answer would have been that if KL Rahul is your middle-order batter, then you should have made Sanju Samson a part of the team. You wouldn’t have had to change the other things but when you don’t do that, and have one keeper as a middle-order batter and the other as an opener, you are digging a hole for yourselves, and you will fall into it sometime or the other, and it is now time to fall into it.”

Aakash Chopra added that Samson cannot be fielded in the XI in place of Rahul. He also stated that an injury replacement cannot be taken for a couple of matches as well. He added that Team India might want to play either Tilak Varma or Suryakumar Yadav in the middle order.

“You have also picked Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav in the team. You have no idea about Shreyas Iyer’s form and you have no idea about the form in which KL Rahul will come. So you will want to give a chance to at least one of Tilak Varma or Suryakumar Yadav. Tilak Varma has not played a single ODI thus far. Suryakumar Yadav has played a few ODIs but hasn’t done anything in them. If you see from that perspective, this is your chance. Pakistan is a high-octane game, you will want to win, but whatever you have to try, you have to do it here,” Aakash Chopra concluded.