Former India player Aakash Chopra has come down hard on Team India for their batting order in the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 game against Bangladesh as well. The match took place on Wednesday, September 24, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, Chopra said: “Well, quite a few things were actually weird. Of course, while Abhishek and Shubman were batting, it looked like a very good batting surface, and you can play through the line, and you could actually hit wherever you wanted to hit. But then the wicket falls, and then the batting order is inexplicable. I mean, what exactly India was trying to do with the batting order is baffling, to say the least.”
“Tilak Verma should have been sent earlier in fact. Because I mean 3 was available, 4 was available. You don’t send him, you send Hardik ahead of Tilak. Somebody who’s actually looked in quite decent touch in this tournament thus far, whatever opportunities he got. And again, yes Sanju should have been there. But very difficult to understand the thought process behind what they’re doing,” he further added.
During the same conversation, former India pacer Varun Aaron also shared his displeasure with the team’s batting order, raising questions about the decision to send Shivam Dube and Axar Patel ahead of Sanju Samson as well.
He said: “I’m really perplexed with the way they deployed batsmen. They obviously thought they can get Dube on and he’ll take down the spinners. But Sanju Samson is another option where he could have been slotted in early today, because we know how he enjoys batting slightly up top. I do not understand it. Axar ahead of Sanju Samson. The man’s got 3 T20 centuries in the last year. You’ve got to cut him some slack.”
“And to be honest, there’s not much difference with any of the batsmen when it comes to their strike rate. It’s not like we have 4 batsmen who can strike above 150 and we have a couple who can only play runner ball. It’s not like that. Every one of those batsmen in the top 8 can really have a good swipe at the ball and strike at a very high strike rate. So, I really don’t see any motivation or any motive rather behind so many chops and changes in the batting order,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
