IND vs WI: "Playing Bharat Was Right" - Aakash Chopra On Team Management’s Decision To Back KS Bharat Over Ishan Kishan

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra stated that the team management made the right decision by selecting KS Bharat over Ishan Kishan for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Aakash Chopra stated that KS Bharat deserved the opportunity based on his performances in first-class cricket.

Rishabh Pant was ruled out of the final match against Australia due to injuries. The Rohit Sharma-led team picked KS Bharat as their first-choice keeper for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. The management backed Bharat despite his underwhelming performance in the BGT series.

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In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra opened up about India’s wicketkeeping choice for the WTC 2023 final match.

“Playing Bharat was right. A legitimate grouse was that you focus more on IPL performances and that you don’t attentively watch the performances of first-class or long-form cricketers. According to that, Bharat should have played and he played, which is right,” Chopra said.

Bharat was impressed with brilliant glove work in the WTC final match. However, the right-handed batter couldn’t make a significant impact with the bat, scoring only 28 runs in his two innings.

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It Is The Truth That We Are Not Giving – Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra expressed his concern that selection decisions were based on players’ performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) instead of domestic red-ball cricket.

“It is the truth that we are not giving. This thing has become extremely clear. It is not that players are being picked in Test cricket only based on IPL performances but when the man-to-man marking is done, the scale is tilted towards that at times and we have definitely seen that. There is no doubt about that,” he added.

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Importance Needs To Be Given To First-Class Cricket – Aakash Chopra

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the domestic players were overlooked by the selectors for the upcoming West Indies tour.

“What you are saying is not wrong – Abhimanyu Easwaran, Priyank Panchal, Sarfaraz Khan, and then there are more. There is Rinku Singh as well. He too has a average of 60 in first-class cricket but no one is talking about him,” he continued.

Also read: “If You Reach The Final, Be Happy That You Reached The Final” – Aakash Chopra Slams Indian Players For Not Skipping IPL Ahead Of WTC Final

“Importance needs to be given to first-class cricket. We say that Ranji Trophy should be played but when it comes to the selection, not many players are picked from there. Jalaj Saxena is another example. So there are plenty of such examples. You are right, your question hurt me,” he concluded.

India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.

Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah