“Who said that these 12 matches are very important?” - Aakash Chopra questions India’s World Cup 2023 preparations 

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has taken a dig at the Men in Blue’s World Cup 2023 preparations. Revealing about a recent interaction with Harsha Bhogle, he opined it hasn’t seemed like India have taken their recent matches seriously.

The Men in Blue experimented with their ODI playing XI during their tour of the West Indies as well as against Australia in the recently concluded series at home, which was their last assignment before the World Cup. Skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, and Hardik Pandya were rested for the first two matches.

While discussing India’s performance in the ODI series against Australia, Chopra claimed [3:05] that neither team looked too interested in the matches and seemed to be going through the motions.

"I was having a discussion with Harsha Bhogle. He recalled that three months ago it was being said that the next 12 matches are very important keeping the World Cup in mind. In the three matches in West Indies, it seemed playing XIs were picked for fun. Here as well, things were pretty much the same. Who said that these 12 matches are very important? There are multiple questions that keep popping up,” Chopra commented.

“One thought is that no questions were left. Jadeja’s form with the bat was the only concern; the other boxes have been ticked. Okay, fine,” the 46-year-old added.

India won the three-match series 2-1 by virtue of registering comprehensive wins in the first two games.

---

“India made an attempt to not expose him a lot” - Chopra on Kuldeep Yadav

Sharing his views on India’s bowling effort, Chopra opined that while left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep did play in the third ODI in Rajkot, the hosts seemed conscious not to expose him too much ahead of the World Cup.

“Kuldeep played the match but India made an attempt to not expose him a lot. He picked up two wickets while Jasprit Bumrah also claimed three. Australia should have made 400, but ended up with 352 as there was a batting collapse later. They are not sure about whether to play Carey, Inglis, Marcus Stoinis or Cameron Green. They don’t seem to have much of an idea,” he concluded.

Kuldeep finished with figures of 2/48 from six overs, while Bumrah claimed 3/81 in his 10 overs. Responding to Australia’s total of 352/7, India were held to 286 in spite of Rohit Sharma’s brilliant 57-ball 81.