The former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has opined that the Men in Blues have a slight issue in managing their all-rounders in the ongoing five-match T20I series.
Chopra pointed out that Axar Patel‘s all-rounder skills haven’t been effectively used as he batted at no.8 during the second T20I of the England tour of India 2025.
Axar scored only two runs off three deliveries while batting at No.8 in the second T20I. The spin-bowling all-rounder smashed 31 runs off 47 deliveries after being promoted to No. 5 in India’s win in the 2024 T20 World Cup against South Africa.
“There is a slight issue of too many all-rounders. You played Washi but made him bowl one over. You played Axar, got him to bowl, but changed his batting order to No. 8 or No. 9.”
“Honestly speaking, when you have so many all-rounders, you don’t know how to use them. Someone remains under bowled and someone doesn’t get enough batting,” Aakash Chopra said.
“Ideally, Axar Patel should come to bat up the order. Forget the last match’s shot, if you see the last one to one-and-a-half years, he is a very, very responsible batter.”
“You can send him not at No. 8 but earlier. In fact, the Indian team have even sent him at No. 3 or No. 4. He managed the World Cup final. So you don’t want to keep him so low in the batting order,” Chopra added.
He also observed that Suryakumar Yadav would have wanted to use Washington Sundar more with the ball in the second T20I, Aakash Chopra pointed out that managing all-rounders is difficult.
“Similarly, when you are playing Washi, you don’t want to get him to bowl just one over. It seems great when you hear about all-rounders, but it’s not easy to manage all-rounders,” he said.
India secured a 2-0 lead in the five match T20I series with two straight wins at Kolkata and Chennai. The Men in Blues will be aiming to continue the winning streak to secure the series. The third match of the T20 series will be played on January 28 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
