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Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra criticized Indian team management for not selecting Prabhsimran Singh for the first two matches in the ongoing Three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, with the third and final match on Sunday.
Aakash Chopra stated that Prabhsimran, a keeper-batter, deserved to play for the India National Cricket Team against Zimbabwe in the previous games.
Prabhsimran Singh is yet to make his debut for India
The Indian team management named Singh for the series against Zimbabwe, with another keeper-batter, Ishan Kishan, in the team. Ishan Kishan was the automatic choice to retain his place in the playing XI over Singh.
As the Indian team management is rotating the squad to try out multiple emerging talents, it was expected to see Prabhsimran in the previous two matches. His case looked strong as the team provided Vaibhav Sooryavanshi his debut in the format against England, before touring Zimbabwe.
Give a break to Ishan: Aakash Chopra's suggestion to Team India
Aakash Chopra mentioned that India could have easily rested Ishan, who has been playing matches for the team relentlessly in back-to-back away series, and included Prabhsimran Singh in the playing eleven as the keeper-batter.
Prabhsimran did well with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings, scoring over 500 runs in two consecutive seasons. His performance for the India A team was also impressive.
"Give a break to Ishan. Prabhsimran Singh will easily do the keeping job as well. So you can use him like that as a player. This is an opportunity that can be given to Prabh,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"What’s his mistake? You have selected Prabhsimran Singh, and we have no idea whatsoever when you would select him again. You have won the series,” he added.
Chopra's comments sound more relevant as the Men in Blue have provided multiple emerging bowlers their debut caps in the shortest format of the game.
Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma are the two pacers who made their debut in the series. India's pace attack in the series is mostly dependent on an inexperienced set of bowlers, which worked nicely in the previous two games. For the batting, the team mostly relies on a fixed set of players that featured against England.
Why should Team India provide Prabhsimran Singh his debut cap?
India won the 3-match T20I series against The Chevrons by winning the second match by 90 runs after winning the opening match with ease as well. In both matches, the playing combination of the team worked like a well-oiled machine.
Zimbabwe has talent on their side, but not enough to make a close contest with the 2026 T20 World Cup-winning team. Because of the team's dominating performance, which was expected before the series, Aakash Chopra suggested that the Indian team management reward the keeper-batter with his debut cap.
Prabhsimran Singh played for the Punjab Kings in the IPL, under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, who is India's captain in the T20I format. As both of them played multiple matches for the IPL team, there must be good bonding between them.
