Aakash Chopra dropped a bombshell on Ravindra Jadeja indicating his competition with Axar Patel for a place in India’s T20I team. Chopra feels that Ravindra Jadeja needs to contribute with the bat to retain his place in the team. The Men in Blue will take on the Proteas in the final T20I of the three-match series in Johannesburg. Ravindra Jadeja scored 19 balls off 14 and went wicketless with a figure of 0/28 in 2.5 overs in the five-wicket loss against the hosts via DLS method in the second T20I.
Previewing the third T20I on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that the vice-captain tag in the ongoing series might not help Jadeja maintain his position. He explained, “I will want Rinku Singh to score runs again. Jitesh (Sharma) and Ravindra Jadeja should score runs. “Jaddu needs to score runs because there is going to be a toss between Jaddu and Axar Patel, and it is not like Axar is far behind because he (Jadeja) is the vice-captain.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator added, “The vice-captain has no value today because Shreyas Iyer was the vice-captain. Before that, Ajinkya Rahane was the vice-captain in Tests. Selectors immediately rule out players these days. “I don’t know how they do that.”
Aakash Chopra acknowledges that vice-captains are no longer important
Shreyas Iyer was named India’s vice-captain for the last two T20Is of the recently concluded five-match series against Australia. However, he was benched for the final match against South Africa. Ajinkya Rahane was Rohit Sharma’s second-in-charge in the two Tests against the West Indies, but he has not found a place in the team for the upcoming two-match Test series against the Proteas.
Aakash Chopra earlier raised questions about Indian selectors for playing Tilak Varma instead of Shreyas Iyer in the second T20I. Iyer scored a fifty in the last T20I match he played but was still dropped from India’s playing XI against South Africa. Ravindra Jadeja will have to show his contributions with bat and ball to maintain his place in the team.
India will take on South Africa in Johannesburg on Thursday for the final T20I of the series. The Men in Blue hope to level the series by winning the match.