Former opener's grim assessment of India's chances in T20 World Cup: 'One bowler can't change everything'
India's preparations for the T20 World Cup have been characterised by them not being able to defend big totals in recent matches.
India's preparations for the T20 World Cup next month has been characterised by an inability to defend targets in recent matches, regardless of how big they may be. On Tuesday, they failed to defend a target of 209, with Australia chasing it down with four balls to spare and taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has specifically been criticised for the amount of runs he conceded in the death overs against Australia and in the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
However, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has also seen a down turn in form, in addition to the fact that it remains to be seen if he will get favourable conditions to bowl in Australia during the T20 World Cup next month. Former India opener Aakash Chopra has said that India's weak bowling attack puts a dent on their chances to win the marquee tournament.
"Yuzi Chahal continues to bowl faster. How will you get wickets if you don't bowl slower at all? The reality is that India have a weak bowling line-up and the hopes of winning the World Cup are a bit less. You need to win the remaining games or else you will lose the series against a side that is without their four main players," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
The former India cricketer also cautioned the team management about their load of expectations from Jasprit Bumrah who might get to play in remaining matches of the series. He cited the example of team Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League who over relied on Bumrah and eventually finished on the bottom of points table in the tournament.
"One bowler can't come and completely change everything. This is the sad reality. What happened to MI this year when they had just Bumrah? They didn't win much, right? So except a game where you take 5-6 wickets, you won't do a lot of difference with just one bowler," explained Chopra.
The 45-year old came down heavily on the team selection and bowling tactics of Team India, ahead of the World Cup. "You didn't give a match to Mohammad Shami since the previous T20 World Cup and brought him into the squad against Australia. When he(Shami) got infected with Covid, you replaced him with Umesh Yadav who hadn't played a T20I match for almost three and a half years. Deepak Chahar whom you had selected in the squad was sitting on the bench and you played Yadav. I mean, it just defies a little bit of logic," said Chopra cornering the Team management.
