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Aakash Chopra selects Team India’s probable XI; leaves Dinesh Karthik
By SMCS - Aug 9, 2022 2:20 pm
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Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has picked his probable Team India XI for their Asia Cup 2022 campaign opener against Pakistan. The Asia Cup will take place in the UAE from August 27 to September 11. The selectors picked the 15-member Indian squad on Monday, August 8.

dinesh karthik
Dinesh Karthik

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “It seems it has been discussed that KL Rahul is going to be the opener and Virat Kohli is going to be at No. 3. Long-term perspective – no problem at all, this is what you want. But they have experimented so much in opening that we might see some more experiments. It is possible Rahul does not open and Virat Kohli opens. Suryakumar Yadav will be in the middle order. Rishabh Pant might go above Surya, that’s a possibility because we have seen repeatedly that a left-hander is required, every team has a leg-spinner, so you need Rishabh Pant in between.”

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He continued: “That means Suryakumar at No. 5 or No. 6 because Hardik Pandya is also there, then why were you making him open for so long? Dinesh Karthik might not be able to get a place in the XI. Deepak Hooda’s selection shows that team needs a floater who can bat down the order and give you some bowling as well.”

Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik has consistently done well as a finisher since his return to the side. However, with every batter being available, it will be tough to add him to the XI. He also stated that Team India might include Deepak Hooda in the playing XI.

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“It is possible that when the first match happens against Pakistan, because KL Rahul is coming after playing no cricket and Virat Kohli is coming after a break, the team might feel the batting is slightly fragile and that they should keep Deepak Hooda as well. They can go with four bowlers and you can get four overs from Hardik Pandya and Hooda. That could be the thought process, that you play Jaddu and Chahal and two fast bowlers – Arshdeep and Bhuvi because you might not want to play Avesh as of now,” Aakash Chopra concluded.

Aakash Chopra’s Indian XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh