Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned the selectors for picking a 17-member Indian squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa as well. The Indian team will travel to South Africa for three T20Is followed by three ODIs and two Tests, with the first T20I taking place in Durban on Sunday, December 10. With Hardik Pandya unavailable and Rohit Sharma being given a break for the limited-overs series, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the T20I squad.
Reflecting on the T20I squad in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “There was a lot of speculation about whether Rohit Sharma will become the T20I captain and whether Virat Kohli will once again be seen playing T20Is but nothing has happened. Rohit and Kohli are unavailable. Both asked for a break and both have been given a break. Suryakumar Yadav is the captain here, which is fair. Ravindra Jadeja is the vice-captain of this team. It is an interesting development. A 17-member team has been announced. 17 people for three games – why?”
READ MORE: “Can be the future captain of India” – Kiran More on Ruturaj Gaikwad
However, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj, who were given a break after the recently concluded World Cup 2023, have been added to the T20I squad for the South Africa tour. Axar Patel, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Shivam Dube, who are part of the Indian squad for the ongoing T20I series against Australia, have not been added to the squad as well. And, Aakash Chopra feels the team management might have a tough job deciding the batting order as well.
“It is almost the same team that is playing here (vs Australia). Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja have come in. It will be interesting to see who bats where because Yashasvi, Shubman and Ruturaj – all cannot open,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “Then Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. All of them cannot play. So it will be interesting for whoever tries to make the XI from this. Ultimately, there will be at least four people who won’t get to play even a single match. So you have sent them for sure but you won’t gain anything from that.”
