Aakash Chopra Suggests Big Changes in Playing XI for Team India ahead of 3rd Test

By Tasirul Momin Updated: Jan 11, 2022, 10:44 IST

Former Indian cricketer and now a cricket expert and a commentator, Aakash Chopra has changes that the Indian team should do going into the 3rd Test match today.

With the series level at 1-1, the third and the final Test match of the series is really important as winning team would also won the series. Indian team conceded defeat to South Africa in the 2nd match after winning the first match.

And with the team aim of winning the match, Team India might be looking into making some changes for the match. The team though, will necessarily make atleast two changes in the Playing XI, with captain Virat Kohli coming back in after missing the last game due to injury, while pacer Mohammed Siraj has suffered an injury during the 2nd Test.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra suggested changes that the Indian team should do before the third Test.

The one change that he really mentioned or questioned is whether Ishant Sharma will get any opportunity at all. He stated that Ishant Sharma has played more than 100 Test matches, but when you play with 4 or 5 pace bowlers, his name is not there.

While discussing that, he also touched upon another pace bowler Umesh Yadav. He said that he would personally prefer Umesh Yadav ahead of Ishant, but also mentioned that Team India might go with seniority of Ishant Sharma for the match.

He also mentioned that Hanuma Vihari should be played ahead of off-spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin. He stated that spinners have hardly played any role in the series thus far, and thus would prefer to strengthen the batting.

India vs South Africa Series

Team India is looking to record a historic series win in South Africa in Cape Town as the third Test match will kick-off today, the 11th of January.

The series is currently level with 1 win each for both the teams. India won the first Test, while South Africa won the 2nd match. The Test series will be followed by 3 One Day Internationals (ODI) matches beginning from 19th January.