India Will Keep Playing 'Musical Chairs' If They Drop Prithvi Shaw In The Next Test - Aakash Chopra

Former India batsman, Aakash Chopra opines that dropping Prithvi Shaw from the second Test match against Australia would be reasonable, but not fair to the youngster. Chopra says that not only both the openers but most of the batsman as well didn’t score any significant runs in Adelaide, hence making Shaw the scapegoat for the Adelaide catastrophe isn’t fair.

Prithvi Shaw was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, and castled for 4 runs in the second innnigs. However, the 21-year-old has copped criticism not just for his lack of runs, but more for his flawed technique, ad failure to improve on it since the IPL.

The right-hander has been observed to have a static front foot which leaves a massive gap between pad and bat, and therefore pacers have capitalized on Shaw’s vulnerability by fizzing deliveries in that gap.

In his Facebook video, Aakash Chopra said, “In my opinion, you can drop him but if you have to run the game in the right spirit, don’t find scapegoats. Both the openers have done a bad job. If you leave out one of them, then it will come that you are finding scapegoats, that you have lost the match and someone has to be made the scapegoat for that, so you can make him that.”

Not just Shaw, nobody has made runs: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra observes that if the management decides to drop Shaw, it is explicable since he didn’t make runs; however, neither did any other batsman. In the second innings, no Indian batter could reach double figures; in the first innings, apart from Virat Kohli, who got run out, other batsmen failed to step up.

“Although justification can come that you can drop him because he has not made runs but no one made the runs. It has been a bad Test match for all batsmen. It has been a collective failure,” Aakash Chopra said.

The 43-year-old questions that if Shubman Gill or KL Rahul comes in place of Shaw, and if Rohit Sharma – who is in quarantine in Australia currently – is available for the third Test, then which opener will the management drop?

The former batsman believes that instead of playing musical chairs with the opening slot, it’s better to give the incumbent opener, Prithvi Shaw another opportunity in the Boxing Day Test.

 “If you drop him now and make Shubman Gill open in the next match, then Rohit Sharma will come and you will play him. So whom will you make sit out then? Whoever makes fewer runs between Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal. Then, you will keep playing the game of musical chairs,” Aakash Chopra added.

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