Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra opined on the World Cup squad that India picked on Tuesday. However, he reckons there were a couple of areas where the team could have strengthened by having more options. He feels they need another wrist-spinner and would have picked Yuzvendra Chahal instead of Axar Patel as well. Chopra also feels that Tilak Varma could have been there in place of Suryakumar Yadav because of the former’s ability to bat as well as bowl a bit of off-spin as well.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said: “The squad is good, but, I feel, there’s a lack of an extra wrist-spin option and perhaps an off-spin option. If I was given this squad, I would have picked Chahal over Axar Patel and possibly Tilak Varma over Suryakumar Yadav. But can criticize till 24 hours. After that it is our team, and we will back it.”

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Speaking about Tilak Varma, Aakash Chopra shared: “Only two of Ishan, Shreyas, and KL Rahul can play. So one of them as well as Surya have to sit out anyway. But I feel what if someday you’re up against an opponent having 3-4 left-handers in their line-up. You would have then loved to have an off-spin option which Tilak could have provided.”

However, Aakash Chopra also said that the Indian team selecting Axar Patel over Yuzvendra Chahal and playing Shardul Thakur over Mohammed Shami suggest that they’re hoping to have the batting depth in the playing XI.

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“They have picked Shardul Thakur because they will play him. They have decided not to play Bumrah, Shami, and Siraj together. Shardul has a stellar record in ODIs and is a wicket-taker.”He goes for runs sometimes, but he is a genuine wicket-taker, and he can bat. We tend to pick bowlers who can bat, but we don’t ask the same question to the batters. We don’t necessarily pick batters who can bowl,” he concluded.