"Should we cancel the South Africa tour?" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma joining the list of unavailable players

Aakash Chopra has highlighted that Rohit Sharma's injury-enforced absence from the Test series against South Africa has significantly weakened the Indian side.

The selectors opted to give the Indian Test side's vice-captaincy duties to Rohit Sharma when they selected the squad for the South Africa tour. However, the opening batter has now been ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury sustained during practice.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra expressed his dismay about the development. He said:

"Ravindra Jadeja unavailable, Axar Patel unavailable, Rahul Chahar unavailable, you don't have Shubman Gill and now they are saying that Rohit Sharma is also not there. I mean what is happening? Should we cancel the South Africa tour?"

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that Rohit Sharma had forged an excellent opening combination with KL Rahul. Chopra elaborated:

"Rohit Sharma is going to be a huge miss. If his tour is in doubt, India's chances are looking in doubt because who was your best Test batter in 2021. Why did you do well in England - Rohit was there with Rahul. Rohit has started loving Test cricket and he is enjoying leaving or defending."

Rohit and Rahul were India's top run-getters in the away Test series against England. The former's 368 runs in the series had come at an excellent average of 52.57, the only Indian batter to average more than 40.

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"There are multi-fold problems" - Aakash Chopra on the issues due to Rohit Sharma's absence

Mayank Agarwal is likely to take Rohit Sharma's place as opener [P/C: BCCI]

While observing that Mayank Agarwal is likely to open alongside Rahul in Rohit Sharma's absence, Aakash Chopra highlighted that the backup opener will be a concern. He stated:

"There are multi-fold problems. Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal had opened just now, KL Rahul was injured. I met KL Rahul recently and he said that he will be fine. You will see Mayank Agarwal opening along with him but who will be the third opener now?"

The 44-year-old concluded by stating that Rohit Sharma's unavailability will considerably weaken the team. Chopra reasoned:

"We were saying that it has become a story of four or five openers and here Mayank Agarwal has become the second opener and KL Rahul the first. And we have reached the stage when Mayank Agarwal made his debut, in a space of few weeks. The Indian team becomes significantly weak."

Selectors have named Priyank Panchal as Rohit Sharma's replacement for the South Africa tour. Although the Gujarat opener has a decent first-class record, his lack of experience at the highest level could be a concern.