Former India opener turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra believes some wrong strategies cost Team India their maiden Test series victory in South Africa when they toured South Africa in 2018.
Notably, they had faced a 2-1 loss in the three-match series played in January 2018 as well where they won in the third and final Test in Johannesburg after the series was decided. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said:
“I felt India was very close in 2017-18, it was possible that they could have created history but the selection was not right, the decisions at crucial stages were not right and in the end, India had to face defeat.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator further added:
“They [India] had lost 2-0, they won the last match after a lot of fight. They won on a bad pitch, they showed excellent spirit but it was of no use because you had already lost the series. You only get consolation on winning a dead rubber, you don’t get a prize or a trophy.”
“Opening did not work out well” – Aakash Chopra
However, Team India defeated South Africa by 63 runs on a tough Johannesburg pitch. While there were calls to be abandoned the match, the visitors did not take a backward step and finished as well. While pointing towards that, Aakash Chopra explained:
“Opening did not work out well. It is a problem that if the openers don’t do well, then it is difficult for the team to move forward. We did well in England because Rahul and Rohit were together, here they are not together, so there will be a slight problem. Mayank will be there with Rahul, they will have to do well.”
“Virat Kohli was the highest run-scorer last time. He made 286 runs at an average of 47 and after that, there was no one down the order. No one made runs, when you don’t make runs, you can’t win. If you don’t bat four or five sessions, you can’t win. India was not able to bat even three sessions,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
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