Aakash Chopra suggests important changes to India’s playing XI in 2nd ODI vs Australia

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has suggested a few changes to the Indian playing XI for the second ODI against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, October 23.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra asserted that with the wicket usually flat at the Adelaide Oval, he expects to see Kuldeep Yadav back in the playing XI. However, he was a bit confused about who would be benched to bring in the attacking spinner. 

"This pitch is usually flat, but this is early summer. You see a little more grass, the side boundaries are slightly short, and the conditions are likely to be overcast. So, will fast bowlers be required more? That is a big question. If the pitch is absolutely flat and you are playing a match in December here, you say you need an extra spinner," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"However, the conditions could be overcast and the pitch could be greener and have moisture here. So will you be able to go with two fast bowlers instead of three? There isn't much scope for change in the Indian team. You wish for just one player to come in, and that's Kuldeep Yadav. Two conditions apply for him to come in. One is - do you mandatorily need three fast bowlers plus Nitish Kumar Reddy?" he added.

Notably, India played with eight batters in the first ODI in Perth. However, it didn’t work out well for the visitors as they suffered a seven-wicket defeat to start the series on a worrying note. On that note, Chopra suggested a few important changes to the order.

"If you need three fast bowlers, the second question is whether you need a batter at No. 8 or not. Thus far, the Indian team has shown great eagerness to have a batter at No. 8. It's almost compulsory that there should be a batter at No. 8. For that, you have to play both Washington Sundar and Axar Patel because then only you will get batting at No. 8," he stated.

"If you play Kuldeep Yadav at No. 8 and three fast bowlers after that, your bowling will become strong, but your batting will end at No. 7. As brilliant as Kuldeep is, fast bowlers have an average of 29 at this ground and spinners have an average of 71, and the side boundaries are quite small," he concluded.

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