'It is far from sorted for India, will take time' - Aakash Chopra lists three major takeaways from IND vs NZ T20I series
IND vs NZ: Rohit Sharma and his Team India side may have thumped New Zealand 3-0 to register yet another T20I series whitewash but they still have a couple of areas to sort, according to former cricketer Aakash Chopra.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra picked three major takeaways from the recently-concluded three-match T20I series between India and New Zealand where the Rohit Sharma-led home side registered a 3-0 whitewash with a 73-run win at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
His first major takeaway was that India should retain their opening pair of KL Rahul and Rohit scored a half-century stand in the opener in Jaipur before smashing a record 117-run stand in the second game.
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India, however, rested KL Rahul for the final tie in Kolkata, picking Ishan Kishan as the opener, although the team once added a 50-run stand for the first wicket.
Aakash advised India to neither think of left-right combinations nor think about match-ups, as they did in the game against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final which they lost.
Aakash then opined, "Finger spin can work in T20s. Ashwin-Axar-Santner. And it’s okay for LAS to bowl to LHB." Axar Patel picked four wickets in three games at an economy rate of just 6, while R Ashwin, who was rested for the final game, picked three wickets in two matches at an economy rate of just 5.25. Meanwhile, New Zealand's Mitchell Santner, picked as many wickets as Axar, conceding at 6.58 runs per over.
In his final takeaway, the veteran cricketer admitted that India still need to work on their middle-order (No.4 to 7), who scored only 51 runs off 45 balls, laced with three boundaries and one six, in the third T20I with Rishabh Pant scoring 4 off 6. Aaksh feels that it will take time for India to sort it out.
India will still have a lot of T20I series to work out their best XI with star players like Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah yet to join.