Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has opened up on India’s concerns after the first T20I against New Zealand. India registered a 48-run win against the Kiwis after posting 238 runs on the board. Chopra reckons the lack of runs for Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan could be concerning for the team ahead of the World Cup.
While Samson returned to the opening slot, Kishan made a comeback to the team after three years. Samson was dismissed for 10 runs whereas Kishan got out after scoring eight runs. Both the batters had soft dismissals and would want to bounce back in the second T20I.
“I will talk about the concerns because it’s a bilateral series just before the World Cup and your priority cannot be winning or losing, or the permanent players scoring a lot of runs or taking a lot of wickets. Priority is whether we got answers to our questions,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“One question was that since Sanju Samson has now gotten a chance to open, will he get into that like fish to water? Will he return to that role seamlessly? He looked good, but then he got dismissed. Then Ishan Kishan played at No. 3. He looked good, and then he got dismissed. So that one question is still a question,” he added.
The renowned commentator highlighted that both batters are batting decently and it is just a matter of them getting runs.
“Both will play the next game and the match after that as well, and I will just keep my fingers crossed that they score the runs because they are batting decently. It doesn’t seem like there is any issue in batting. It’s just that the runs have to come as well,” he observed.
On the other hand, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav scored a decent knock of 32 runs off 22 balls but Chopra reckons thirties won’t help the batter’s confidence.
“Suryakumar Yadav looked good in patches. The first two shots were good, but 32 runs off 22 balls, he spent a little time and scored a few runs, which is good news, but I need a big innings because thirties are not going to be enough to grow that confidence as the drought has been very long. We wouldn’t have discussed at all had it been a case of one or two games,” he said.
Chopra added that SKY had a golden opportunity to get back amongst the runs in the opening T20I.
“It’s been over a year since he scored a fifty for India. So a big knock is required. 27/2 and enough overs to play, Abhishek Sharma going hammer and tongs – opportunity. I am still considering it 50-50. You can look at it as an opportunity or him having regained a little form, but the job was only half done,” Chopra observed.
The second T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Raipur on Friday.
