For the second Test match against England in Vizag, cricket analyst Aakash Chopra recommended the Indian team against preparing a rank-turner. He believes that setting up a solid track will keep India’s aspirations of winning the second Test alive, even though a spinning track could work against them.
Aakash Chopra, a former opener for India, cautioned his side not to prepare a rank-turner for the upcoming second Test match between India and England in Visakhapatnam on Friday, February 2.
England will play a reduced Indian team in Vishakhapatnam without the likes of KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Virat Kohli. India lost the first Test match against the visitors in Hyderabad by a score of 28 runs, which was their third straight loss at home in the longest format. With amazing performances from Ollie Pope at bat and Tom Hartley with the ball, Ben Stokes’ squad won the first Test and will be full of confidence.
The Indian batting squad is already short on experience, and even with their inexperience, players like Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer are not in form to fend off England’s spin attack. According to Aakash Chopra, the team should avoid the urge to set up a spinning track.
In 2021, following Joe Root’s outstanding performance on a flat pitch in Chennai, India lost the opening Test of their four-match Test series. But in their final three Test matches, they turned to wickets that gave spinners amazing support, and they won the series 3-1.
The issue of self-doubt exists. They play better than us [England] if we prepare a nice pitch. Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill are not playing well. Rahul is not with us. Virat Kohli wasn’t even there yet. The all-round player, Ravindra Jadeja, is also absent. You get stuck all of a sudden,” Aakash stated on his YouTube channel.
The cricket analyst also quipped that Joe Root could bowl like the great spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Hartley could become Bishan Singh Bedi in an innings-turner for India.
“I think a nice pitch is where they should play. Avoid getting too excited and making a wild pitch. Your batters lack proper form. The spinners on both sides become equally effective in such a scenario. They are not accurate, but really, does that really matter? Aakash continued, “Tom Hartley starts bowling like Bishan Bedi and Joe Root turns like Muttiah Muralitharan.
