Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes India would play the same playing XI against Australia as Varun Chakravarthy won’t be dropped after his match-winning spell against New Zealand. Chopra highlighted that India’s bowling attack could be one-dimensional with four spinners in the final XI but feels they wouldn’t alter their winning combination in the semifinal clash.
On Sunday, the Dubai pitch had a lot of assistance for the spinners and Chakravarthy returned with impressive figures of 5-42 in his quota of 10 overs. The mystery spinner was right on the money and he got the job done for the Men in Blue while they were defending 250.
Chakravarthy had replaced Harshit Rana in the playing XI against the Kiwis and it would be interesting to note India’s final team against Australia.
“I feel India won’t make any changes in their playing XI. Although it’s slightly against the popular belief, a one-dimensional attack is not good. You need a little variety in your attack. It’s not right if you keep all pacers or all spinners. When you bowl too much spin, the batters get used to it,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“If you see from that point of view, you feel the attack should be slightly multi-faceted and India should play another fast bowler. However, I am convinced India won’t do that. India will play the same team that played the last match. Varun Chakaravarthy won’t be dropped now,” Chopra added.
Meanwhile, Australia has suffered an injury blow as Matthew Short has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. He is expected to be replaced by Cooper Connolly.
“Who is Cooper Connolly? He has very limited ODI experience. So how has he suddenly become a part of the Australian team? Firstly, it’s because Matthew Short got injured. It’s a difficult one for Australia. Matthew Short was doing well as an opener. He also bowls off-spin. He doesn’t take too many wickets but can bowl restrictively,” he said.
“Cooper Connolly is coming after playing an incredible BBL. He can bat down the order and also bowls left-arm spin. So he gives you options. They might get tempted on this pitch. The other option is Jake Fraser-McGurk. It will be a like-for-like replacement as an opener, but Jake Fraser-McGurk won’t give you bowling,” Chopra observed.
Cooper Connolly scored 351 runs in 10 matches of the BBL at an average of 50.14 and a strike rate of 131.46 whereas Jake Fraser-McGurk isn’t in good form.
