Ex-Cricketer Calls Out Team India for Wrong Selection in the Third T20I

The former cricketer has called out the Indian team for its playing XI in the third T20I. India brought down some massive changes for the game and eventually went on to win the same. But still, some of the decisions made by the team were questioned.

The T20I series between India and Australia now remains leveled at 1-1, with India winning the third T20I. For this game, the Indian team had a few changes to its line-up. Harshit Rana, who gave an all-round performance in the second game, was dropped

Indian cricket analyst and former cricketer, Aakash Chopra, has reacted to the same. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, he talked about the unavailability of Harshit Rana for the third game. This was seen by the fans as India used Shivam Dube as another pace bowling option in their attack.

1. Aakash Chopra on India's Playing XI

With the new playing XI, India had made three changes to the team. Washington Sundar, Jitesh Sharma, and Arshdeep Singh were included in the team for this game. But Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson, and Rinku Singh. The exclusion of Harshit Rana in this game was questioned by Aakash Chopra

He said, “Why wasn't Washington Sundar made to bowl? This is a big question. Firstly, you made a lot of changes. You shouldn't have dropped Harshit in this match. You should have played Harshit in this match because you had to bowl Shivam Dube. So you could have played Harshit and made him bat at No. 8 because he batted well in the last match.”

Aakash continued by , “He didn't bowl well once or twice, so you didn't play him, but you won't be able to prepare Harshit also like this. There was a lot of criticism. You kept playing him until there was criticism, and you dropped him when people were praising him. It wasn't understandable.”

Aakash Chopra also accepted the fact that Harshit Rana received a lot of criticism while playing for the Indian team. But he mentioned that having Harshit Rana to get inconsistent opportunities in the team will be a loss to the team itself, as they won't be able to build the future bowlers.

Along with that, Aakash Chopra was also unhappy with Suryakumar Yadav. Washington Sundar, who was also picked in the team, didn't even bowl a single over for the team. But when he came out with the bat, Sundar decided to give his best, as he scored 49 runs off just 23 balls.

On Washington Sundar, he , “You didn't get Washi to bowl. This is surprising, that you are playing him but not making him bowl. If someone tells me that he wasn't bowled because there were right-handers in the middle, Travis Head is the only left-hander in the entire batting lineup. You knew that beforehand.”

Further, he continued on this matter by saying, “Australia's batting lineup has all right-handers. If Washi can't bowl there, he shouldn't play. Washi batted incredibly well and we also got to see his power game, something we haven't seen much, which is outstanding, but not getting him to bowl makes no sense because you had left two overs for Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma in the last five overs.”

2. India vs Australia, Third T20I

With Australia winning the second T20I, India entered the third game to level the series. India was able to win the toss in this game and decided that they would bowl first. This decision helped the team in the initial phases, with Arshdeep Singh picking up wickets

Eventually, Tim David and Marcus Stoinis helped to stabilise Australia's score and helped the team to finish at 186/6. Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube were also used as the bowling options by the team. In the chase, the Indian batters had stable partnerships which put the

Washington Sundar was able to change things and help the team win quickly. He ended up scoring 49 runs off 23 balls, as Jitesh Sharma finished the game from the other side. With this win, India was also able to level the series at 1-1, making the fourth game a crucial one for both teams.