India vs Pakistan | Shardul Thakur cannot play in place of Hardik Pandya, says Aakash Chopra
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has said that Shardul Thakur cannot play in place of Hardik Pandya as batting at No. 6 or No. 7 will not be easy for him. He added that Hardik should play against Pakistan on Sunday and Shardul should be given a chance in the eleven ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Hardik Pandya's place in the playing eleven has been under question because of his bowling fitness. The 28-year-old has not bowled in professional cricket after the end of T20I series against Sri Lanka in July. He did not bowl in the IPL and refrained from rolling his arms in the two warm-up matches India played ahead of the Super 12s.
A section of experts and fans are wondering if Shardul Thakur can fill in for Hardik Pandya if he doesn't gain his bowling fitness on time in the ongoing T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman. Shardul Thakur has made a reputation for himself as a batsman after his exploits in the Test matches against Australia and England this year. Very recently, Thakur scored a 31-ball fifty, the fastest on the English soil.
However, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra is against the idea and according to him the Mumbai cricketer cannot replace Hardik in the eleven.
"Shardul Thakur cannot play in place of Hardik Pandya. Where has he scored runs in T20s? For whom? He has not played a knock like that for CSK as well and let's be honest, we don't have an all-rounder," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"Shardul cannot bat at No.6 and No.7 is also too high for him if you keep Jaddu at No.6. We have only seen his run-scoring form in Test cricket. So Hardik is certain to play."
"It is not about form over reputation, it is just about what you have. So the expectation is, fingers crossed, that Hardik Pandya's bat fires and makes a lot of noise, but you don't have an option."
However, Aakash Chopra backed Shardul Thakur to play against Pakistan but at the expense of pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
"I want to play Shardul but instead of Bhuvi. That's the competition that they are having, it is actually not a competition between Shardul and Hardik at all. The balance will be off if you drop Hardik and send everyone a slot up the order. You will get a sixth bowling option but the batting will shrink suddenly.
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