T20 World Cup 2021: So Many Players Are Not In Form, May Have To Make Changes - Aakash Chopra On India's Squad

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra assessed that Team India might be forced to consider making changes to the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. Plenty of players who were selected are out of form and this might have created some unrest in the minds of the selectors.

Ishan Kishan was dropped from the Mumbai playing XI after a string of low scores. Suryakumar Yadav has equally struggled in the second leg of the IPL 2021. Even Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have failed to impress and this is a cause of concern, as per Chopra.

“I am looking at Ishan Kishan’s form, I mean, the guy isn’t even on Mumbai’s team. When you are not in Mumbai’s XI can you be in India’s 15? That’s a big question. Suryakumar Yadav, as much as I love him, the fact is his form has vanished and lost. He looks like a shadow of himself. Then I think of Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t bowled.”

“The selectors said they picked 3 fast-bowlers because Hardik had promised to bowl but he isn’t. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s form is troubling me too. If so many players are not in form, does that mean you’ll have to make changes? Look, ideally, you don’t want to make too many changes because you selected players after some thought and now you should trust them for 2-4 bad innings,” Chopra reckoned.

“I feel Shreyas Iyer will come back to the team” – Aakash Chopra

Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer has had decent returns in the IPL 2021 so far. He recovered from his shoulder injury and has looked good in a couple of matches for the Delhi Capitals (DC). With so many players struggling to find form, Iyer is almost guaranteed to come back to the squad according to Aakash Chopra.

“But are there changes in the offing? I think yes, one change is almost confirmed – I feel Shreyas Iyer will come back to the team and one player will have to leave. One more player is under pressure too. Will you now look at Sanju Samson?“

“I am not saying they should, I am just saying what might happen… I am looking at Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Deepak Chahar, and Shardul Thakur. There might not be three or four changes, but I won’t be surprised with two changes,” he added.

Chopra was also bemused looking at the Sharjah pitches. In the IPL 2020 season, there were plenty of scores above 200 and it was raining sixes. This time around, teams have barely made it past 150 and the sixes have dried up.

“Seeing Sharjah’s wicket makes my heart beat a bit faster. It used to start with 200-around scores and slow down to 120 ones. It has started with 120-around scores so will now it reach 80-run matches? This is not ideal although the other two wickets won’t be affected much,” Chopra concluded.

India’s campaign in the T20 World Cup 2021 begins with a match against arch-rivals, Pakistan, in Dubai on October 24.

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