Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned India’s batting order in the second ODI against the West Indies, including Axar Patel playing at No. 4 as well. Axar could manage a solitary run off eight balls as India were bowled out for 181 after being asked to bat first in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday, July 29. West Indies chased down the below-par target with six wickets and 80 balls to spare to draw level in the three-match series as well.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Axar Patel was sent at No. 4 here – how, why, when, where? I have a lot of respect and admiration for Axar but Axar is never going to play at No. 4. What are his chances of playing for India at No. 4 from the World Cup or the Asia Cup perspective? I don’t see him playing there in 50-over cricket.”
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The former Indian player further added: “I have another question – is it tenable? Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will open and Virat Kohli will play at No. 3 and all three are right-handers. If you want a left-right combination so much, will you play a left-hander by sending one of them down the order? That’s not going to happen – so what was Axar Patel doing at No. 4?”
Axar Patel came to bat at No. 4 at the fall of Ishan Kishan’s wicket, probably to give a left-right combination in the middle as well. However, Aakash Chopra also questioned the logic behind batting Sanju Samson at No. 3 as well.
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“You saw Sanju Samson at No. 3 this time. You saw Suryakumar Yadav in the last match. Surya in one match and Sanju in the second – what is the logic? Is Sanju an option for No. 3 going forward if he played at No. 3 here? Did you decide in just one match that you don’t need Surya at No. 3 but at No. 6. Again, makes very little sense,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “Ishan Kishan is doing well. He has struck two half-centuries in two matches. So he is doing his job as a third opener and wicketkeeper but he is not going to play there. You slotted him at No. 4 in the first match because you need a left-hander in the middle and you are not playing him at that number.”
