Aakash Chopra picks the India’s T20 World Cup squad based on the performances from Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 while it had some bigger names missing.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra, in his YouTube channel asked his viewers to imagine a situation that the T20 World Cup is starting immediately. Keeping the situation in mind, he picked the Indian squad for the mega event based on the performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
While picking the squad of Indian he omitted some of the bigger names including the skipper Rohit Sharma, former skipper Virat Kohli and the wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant.
In the recently concluded IPL 2022, some of the bigger names in cricket including the skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant could not live up to the expectations.
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma averaged 19.14 in the 14 matches after scoring 268 runs. RCB’s former skipper Virat Kohli scored 341 runs in 16 games with an average of 22.73.
DC’s skipper Rishabh Pant also could not played up to the expectations as he scored 340 runs in 14 games with an average of 30.91.
“Let’s just assume that the T20 World Cup will not start from October-November but from tomorrow and we have to pick a side based only on the performance in the IPL. And, reputations are not going to count for anything. You might think that is not going to happen. But let’s indulge in making a team just based on the performance in the IPL, then how would the team look?”
Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“This team does not have many big names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma. But they are 100 per cent going to play when the World Cup happens. Even Rishabh Pant is not there. These are the three main players who names are not there.”
However, the 16-member squad that Chopra picked looks quite strong on paper. This is the full squad that Chopra picked: KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Shami, Avesh Khan, Krunal Pandya, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah.
“Captain of the team for the World Cup, according to only the IPL performance, I have got Hardik Pandya as the captain. He is batting, bowling. I have kept him at No. 5 batting spot, but he can bat at No. 4 too. He is a gun player. If he bowls, he gives you three overs. If he bats, he can do wonders. He can play in the middle as well as the finisher. His strike-rate was low but I am not picking him only as a batter, I am picking as an allrounder and as a captain,”
Chopra said.