Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has predicted his playing XI for the first ODI against Australia, and he has left out Yashasvi Jaiswal after claiming him as a future Fab 4 cricketer. After being dropped from T20, this young batsman is eagerly waiting to get a place in the longer format of white ball cricket.
Undoubtedly, Yashasvi Jaiswal is one of the most talented but overlooked players in Indian cricket. His impressive form in T20I cricket was ignored when Abhishek Sharma replaced him in the T20I squad, while Yashasvi Jaiswal was not even given a chance to play in the Champions Trophy earlier this year.
Ahead of Australia’s tour of India, former cricketer turned analyst Aakash Chopra has picked the most probable playing XI for the Men in Blue in his opinion, with Yashasvi Jaiswal not finding a place for himself in the team.
Yashasvi Jaiswal out, Aakash Chopra’s opinion on Indian XI
The first ODI, scheduled to be played at the iconic Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, will mark the historic return of the two poster boys of Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. This series is even more important from India’s point of view, because this is the first series in ODI for the new captain Shubman Gill.
India is beginning its preparations for the 50-over format World Cup to be held in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Starting from the top of the order, Chopra chose captain Shubman Gill along with Rohit Sharma.
After this he took the name of Virat Kohli in place of his usual number. 3, There was no change in the Indian top order. The middle-order includes experienced batsman Shreyas Iyer, who is now the vice-captain of the team, and KL Rahul, the first-choice wicketkeeper batsman.
What surprised everyone was that Chopra did not favor Yashasvi Jaiswal, the batsman whom he himself named among the Fab 4 cricketers last week, and also endorsed as an all-format talent.
Washington Sundar gave preference to Asia Cup hero Kuldeep Yadav
After the batsmen were finalized, Aakash Chopra turned to Gautam Gambhir’s favorite players, the all-rounders. In the absence of Hardik Pandya, he brought in Nitish Kumar Reddy at no. 6, followed by veteran campaigner Akshar Patel.
However, he gave a surprise preference to all-rounder spinner Washington Sundar in place of chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who took 17 wickets in the Asia Cup and then 12 more wickets in the recent series against West Indies.
Experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been rested from the ODI squad for Australia; However, no conclusion has been drawn yet on his one-day career.
Harshit Rana in Aakash Chopra’s probable XI after Indian coach’s support
Gautam Gambhir’s support has lifted Harshit Rana up again, and Aakash Chopra proved it with his first point as he bypassed Oval hero Prasidh Krishna and named Rana in his predicted XI. Krishna was not selected for either the Asia Cup or the West Indies Games.
Two other names include the names of Mohammad Siraj and Arshdeep Singh. The left-handed batsman has been called into the eleven in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who has probably been asked to focus on T20Is and Tests for now, as the 50-over World Cup is 2 years from now.
Aakash Chopra’s playing XI for 1st ODI vs Australia: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
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