Former India batter Aakash Chopra said that India can’t do much about the middle order not getting a chance to bat in the ongoing ODI series against the West Indies. Chopra shared that since Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill are no longer all-format players, it would be almost impossible to rest them as well. However, India are 2-0 up in the three-match ODI series against the West Indies.

During a discussion on Cricinfo, Chopra said: “That’s a tight rope to walk. You don’t want to make them sit out and watch cricket happening. More so now when the players we are talking about play only one format in white ball cricket. So it is almost impossible to rest Gill, Rohit or Kohli. Everybody needs game time. And there aren’t enough ODIs.”

READ HERE: “He is not here for the milestones” – Hanuma Vihari on Virat Kohli

“After this, there’s New Zealand, then there is Sri Lanka in December, Zimbabwe in January. It’s not enough. And then, after the IPL, who knows? So you don’t play that much. I don’t think there is a foolproof way to prepare your middle order for what to come,” he added.

During the discussion, Aakash Chopra added that Shreyas Iyer, who bats at No. 4 in ODIs, is not even part of the team against the West Indies since he is leading the team in the Asian Games 2026 in Japan as well.

“Let’s be fair. Right now, even Shreyas Iyer is not there. So he’s supposed to be batting at four. But the guy is playing in a different format in a different country right now. You can see it as a blessing that your top three are outstanding. Or you see it as a problem that they’re so good that nine out of 10 times, four, five, six are not exposed. But the day they are, they’re not ready,” he concluded.