Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons Indian batters need to take a little more responsibility in the second T20I against Sri Lanka. India could only manage a sub-par total of 162 runs in the first game at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The home team found themselves in a spot of bother at 94-5 but they were lifted past the 160-run mark after a fine alliance of 68 runs between Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel. Hooda smashed 41 runs from 23 balls whereas Patel scored a fine cameo of 21-ball 31.
However, India’s top order failed to deliver as Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson could not reach the double digits. Chopra feels the batters need to convert their starts into substantial scores.
“You need a little more responsibility, which you see in Jos Buttler and saw in Alex Hales against India. You want to maximize, of course, you don’t want to slow down or play selfishly, but if you have gotten a start if you have reached 30-40, then make it count,” said Chopra on his YouTube Channel.
“Every player doesn’t score runs on one day, that is why a team plays five to seven batters. So it is happening repeatedly, which means there is a slight problem,” Chopra added.
Chopra noted that the team is trying to play aggressively and in the process losing wickets at regular intervals but the concerning thing is the fact they aren’t scoring 200 runs consistently.
“My concerns are simple – if we see the Indian team’s batting for the last eight months in T20Is, whichever batter is there at No. 8 or No. 9 gets to bat. It happened in the World Cup and here as well, and earlier in the Asia Cup also. Everyone gets to bat and it is not that we are scoring 200,” said Chopra.
“We score 150-160 also and still everyone gets to bat. It means we are figuring out slightly what’s the right way of going about it. You try to be aggressive but it doesn’t mean you will throw away your wicket once you get a start,” Chopra added.
Indian batting was not at its best in the first T20I against the Lankan Lions and they will look to turn the tables in the second game, which will be played at the MCA, Pune on Thursday.
