‘You can’t play him if you aren't using him': Aakash Chopra ‘astonished’ with Hardik Pandya not using Axar Patel

Hardik Pandya's captaincy in the ongoing T20I series against the West Indies has been a little indifferent. Despite Yuzvendra Chahal spinning India back into the contest in the second T20I, he did not let him finish his quota and threw the ball to left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. Arshdeep leaked 9 in that over and Mukesh Kumar conceded 12 in the next as West Indies won with an over to spare. That was not all, Hardik did not give a single over to Axar Patel.

While keeping match-ups in mind and especially a rampaging Nicholas Pooran, it was not such a bad move but then comes a question, why is Axar even playing when West Indies have Kyle Mayers, Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer and Akeal Hossein in their batting unit? Axar only bowled two overs even in the series opener. Are India playing him only as a No.7 batter?

Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes Axar is not being utlised properly. Chopra also urged the batting unit to take more responsibility mainly because there’s a slight weakness at the No. 8 position.

“(Skipper) Hardik Pandya will also have a responsibility to make runs himself and stay on the crease till the very end so that you have enough runs on the board which can be defended. And while I speak of bowling, I am astonished as Axar (Patel) isn’t being utilised, because if you are playing a left-arm spinner and think you won’t bowl him against a lefty, so you will get (Kyle) Mayers in the beginning, then Nicholas Pooran and then (Shimron) Hetmyer and then Akeal Hossein, so you can’t make him play the match. I feel Axar can be utilised in a better way," he said on Jio Cinema.

India opted to play two wrist spinners in the first two T20Is but with such a long tail, they might have to rethink that strategy and only play five bowling options including the all-rounders Hardik and Axar.

Should India play Yashasvi Jaiswal in place of either Ishan Kishan or Shubman Gill?

Openers Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan's low returns is another factor that has hurt India in this T20I series. In both the matches Kishan and Gill not only failed to score big but they also consumed a few deliveries before getting out cheaply, leaving India in man's land in the powerplay.

There is young Yashasvi Jaiswal waiting in the wings, who can be tried at the top of the order but Chopra said he would avoid tinkering with the opening partnership: “See, the question is big and is tempting also because if Ishan (Kishan) plays, he plays as the wicketkeeper-batter and is a left-hander. Also, you have Yashasvi who is a left-hander and can open, and you also have Sanju (Samson) as a keeper, who is available for selection. There is a thought, but I will still say that if you have given someone a chance to play, you should give them three matches at least so that you can arrive at a decision. I feel for one more match, I will not change the opening pair of Ishan and Shubman Gill.”

The slow pitches in the Caribbean have not helped India’s cause, and Chopra feels that India still ought to have scored at a faster clip in the powerplay overs. “In the first six overs, it’s important to capitalise. But it is only possible if you have wickets in hand. It’s not like India lose a wicket early on. They are playing the first two overs cautiously,” explained Chopra.

“But if you divide the powerplay into two halves, in the second half of the powerplay you need to accelerate. If you get 10 runs per over, you suddenly find yourself at 50/1. But the current scenario seems different where you lose two wickets for 36-37 runs. So, we are neither here nor there, so we do have problems. Now, that Shubham and Ishan have played two matches they need to show more intent. But they also need to keep in mind which bowler to target,” he added.