Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra added Team India’s top three batters will together do well in the first T20I against the West Indies. However, they will face the Windies in a five-match T20I series, with the first game to be played in Tarouba, Trinidad, on Thursday, August 3. Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the three possible candidates to open the batting for India as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “The T20 World Cup will be played here only next year. It is not that far away, because they are saying that it can happen in June. So it is less than a year. Try to play the best XI from the team available and play consistently. India’s top three, whoever plays, will score 90 or more runs.”
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He continued: “There is not a lot of help for the spinners here. There is a little help, so you will expect three or more wickets from the spinners. The question will be whether three or two spinners will play. Three spinners played here last time but I don’t know now, but in any case, I feel the spinners will take more than three wickets.”
However, Axar Patel will likely be a certain pick in India’s playing XI. The Indian think-tank will also have to choose either one or two of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi in the playing XI.
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“I feel more than 90 runs will be scored in the powerplay overs. Our six overs and their six overs, more than 90 combining the two. I also feel the Indian team will win this game. They say this is the West Indies’ stronger suit but is there a stronger suit for the West Indies team? I don’t think so. They didn’t qualify for the ODI and T20 World Cups and we have seen their situation in Test matches. Their situation is slightly bad,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
