Musheer Khan to make India debut ahead of Sarfaraz Khan? Aakash Chopra drops bombshell claim

One of the most popular cricket pundits from India, Aakash Chopra while speaking on his latest YouTube video, claimed that 18-year-old batter Musheer Khan who recently came under the limelight due to his impressive performances in the recently concluded ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, will have a much more established career than elder brother Sarfaraz Khan who earned his maiden India call up earlier this month.

Sarfaraz had to wait for a very long time to be able to find a place in the Indian squad across formats, let alone a place in the playing XI. The 26-year-old has a staggering record in the Ranji Trophy circuit and has consistently scored runs for Mumbai at an average of almost 70. His younger brother Musheer Khan is also following in his footsteps in terms of being an aggressive and fearless batter.

Musheer played a key role behind the Indian U-19 team’s journey towards the finale where they unfortunately lost against Australia by 79 runs at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday.

Also Read: Saumy Pandey beats Ravi Bishnoi to massive Under 19 World Cup record for India

Although the youngster could not play a significant role as it was expected from him in the tournament’s two most important matches in the final and semi-final, Aakash Chopra feels his accurate timing is god gifted. He scored 4 against South Africa in the semi-finals and 22 in the final yesterday but regardless of that, Musheer Khan finished as the 2024 U-19 WC’s 2nd highest run-getter with 360 runs.

“I liked Musheer a lot. When their careers finish in the end, the younger brother might go ahead of the elder one. The good thing about him is that he has got the gift of timing.” – Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel. 

The 46-year-old then went on to talk about Musheer’s key strength of playing shots on merit with a straight bat, the ability to punish balls bowled on his legs, and his capacity to pull off unconventional shots.

“He plays very well on his legs and plays well straight too. Whenever the ball is in that range, he plays extremely well. The kid plays spin very well and plays some good unconventional shots too.” – Chopra added. 

Musheer Khan’s tally of 360 runs included 2 half-centuries and two terrific full-centuries against New Zealand and Ireland in the group stages. His knocks of 131 and 118 are placed 2nd and 5th in the highest individual scores in an innings list, which is headed by Kiwi wonder boy Snehith Reddy for his 147* against Nepal.

Also Read: Aakash Chopra names two India U19 players who impressed him during U19 World Cup 2024

Aakash Chopra Points Out Weaknesses Of Musheer Khan

Aakash Chopra then dissected the weaknesses of Musheer Khan that troubled him during the tournament and might trouble him going forward as well. Chopra pointed out that Musheer is not that good of a backfoot player and struggles against short balls, something the former Indian cricketer believes to be an obstacle on Musheer’s way to becoming a top-class batter.

“He will have to work on one thing. The backfoot play is slightly weak. He got a life in the final and got out in the slips in the semi-final as well. If you have to play long, you will have to work hard on your game against the short ball.” – Chopra concluded. 

Also Read: Aakash Chopra blames poor fast bowling for defeat against Australia in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Final