"Test cricket will stop if we don't play Kohli, Rohit and Bumrah" - Aakash Chopra on whether India should make two XIs

Aakash Chopra believes Test cricket will be done for good if Team India don't field the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in their XI.

The Indian team annihilated the visiting Sri Lankan side by an innings and 222 runs in the first Test in Mohali. Certain experts have highlighted that Test matches are becoming boring when there is a lot of disparity between the two competing teams' standards.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was asked if Team India could consider making two Test XIs to give more opportunities to the youngsters and for workload management. He responded:

"In my opinion, play the best team in Test cricket. You might keep saying that it is the best format but in that format, if we don't play Kohli, Rohit and Bumrah, it will stop. It is already on the ventilator and after that, it will just die."

The former India cricketer also pointed out that an almost full-strength Indian side suffered a reversal in the recent Test series against South Africa. Aakash Chopra elaborated:

"It is a good thought to entertain your heart because our full team lost 2-1 in South Africa. We used to win the toss but lose the match. We couldn't even stop fourth-innings run chases, only Rohit Sharma was missing, the entire rest of the team was present. Did we win that, we didn't."

It would certainly not be advisable for Team India to field a second-string side in a Test match. Although Dimuth Karunaratne's side were given a hammering in the first game, the pink-ball Test could be a more evenly fought contest.

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"No one has been able to defeat us in a series at home" - Aakash Chopra

Team India have enjoyed great success in familiar home conditions [P/C: BCCI]

However, Aakash Chopra did acknowledge that Team India are a tough nut to crack at home. He observed:

"Unfortunately or fortunately, when you play in India, the last time when someone defeated us in a series was 10 years back. No one has been able to defeat us in a series at home. In these conditions, if someone comes and wins an odd Test we become very happy, England won the first Test last time and Australia won in Pune. But these are far and few between."

The reputed commentator added that such one-sided encounters could sound the death knell for Test cricket. Aakash Chopra stated:

"But Test cricket is already in its last breath. If you continue having more matches with mismatches like these, it will go on the ventilator. There is no contest, there is no context, the matches get over in three days."

Aakash Chopra concluded by suggesting that the ICC should consider splitting the World Test Championship into two groups to make the contest more even.