Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons the team should make changes to their bowling unit after receiving a drubbing at the hands of Pakistan on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
India failed to even take a wicket against Pakistan as the Babar Azam-led team comprehensively won by 10 wickets.
Chopra feels Bhuvneshwar Kumar isn’t the same bowler as he was before. Kumar hasn’t been at his best since recovering from his back injury. The swing master had a good series against England but then had a mundane run in the IPL 2021 for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Mohammed Shami was also expensive and he isn’t known for his T20 bowling as he has been hot and cold. Furthermore, Ravindra Jadeja is known to contain the batsmen and he is not a wicket-taking option.
“You cannot take the field with this five-bowler combination. There are two ways of looking at this. If you feel you need a sixth-bowling option, then you might want to replace Hardik with Shardul, but that is not a like-for-like replacement. I would rather say play Hardik. But the combination needs to change because Bhuvneshwar is not looking the same bowler. Shami blows hot and cold in theT20s. Jadeja is a four-over bowler but is not a wicket-taking option. He is not a Rahul Chahar or Yuzvendra Chahal or Rashid Khan,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
On the other hand, Varun Chakravarthy was in sublime form while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021 as he scalped 18 wickets in 17 matches. However, the mystery spinner doesn’t have a lot of international experience under his belt. Thus, Chopra decided to cut some slack for the Tamil Nadu spinner.
“Varun Chakravarthy has played little international cricket so let’s give him a little time. But is he your go-to bowler? Because when you pick a five-bowler combination, everyone has to be in form and cannot afford to have an ordinary day in the middle. That is why I feel that you have to change this combination. I am not expecting something radical but the lesson learnt (after Pakistan defeat) has been that this combination will not work. So India need to go with a different bowling combination.”
India will next face New Zealand on Sunday and it will be interesting to note their bowling combination.
