Former India opener Aakash Chopra questions the omission of Ravi Bishnoi and Shreyas Iyer from India’s XI in the second T20I against South Africa. He highlighted that the leg-spinner is the number one T20I bowler at the moment. The Men in Blue went ahead with Kuldeep Yadav in place of Ravi Bishnoi playing in the second T20I of the three-match series in Gqeberha. The left-arm spinner recorded a figure of 1/26 in three overs as India suffered a defeat in the game by five wickets through the DLS method.
Aakash Chopra was baffled by the Indian team management’s decision to leave out Bishnoi and Shreyas Iyer. While reviewing the match on his YouTube channel, he explained: “I still can’t understand the team selection. Shreyas Iyer did not play and one would wonder why he did not play as he was the vice-captain in the last match. He also scored fifty against Australia and did not play in this match.”
Aakash Chopra added: “No one said why he didn’t play. Along with him, Ravi Bishnoi, was the Player of the Series of the last series. He is currently number one in the ICC T20I rankings, but he did not play either.”
Aakash Chopra left confused after seeing India’s XI
Ravi Bishnoi was India’s highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against Australia and was also the Player of the Series. Shreyas Iyer has had an excellent World Cup campaign and was also India’s vice-captain in the last T20I match against Australia, where he too scored a half-century. However, both players were ignored by the Indian team in the second T20I against South Africa.
India apparently struggled with top-order batting and bowling, leading to a loss in the second T20I. Aakash Chopra was confused seeing Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak Varma instead of Ravi Bishnoi and Shreyas Iyer. It was understandable that Ruturaj did not play the match as he was unwell, but there was no reason for Ravi Bishnoi and Shreyas Iyer to be left out of the match.
India will now play the third T20I in Johannesburg and will look to win the match to level the series at 1-1 as the first T20I was washed out by rain in Durban. South Africa currently leads the series 1-0, but India has a good chance of coming back in the last match of the series.
