“Can’t see Rahul Tripathi getting into the playing XI” - Aakash Chopra on India’s team for 1st T20I vs England

Former Team India batter Aakash Chopra reckons that in-form batter Rahul Tripathi is unlikely to feature in the playing XI in the first T20I against England. Tripathi was part of the Indian squad for the two T20Is against Ireland, but did not get to play a game in that series.

The 31-year-old was picked in the Indian squad on the basis of an impressive IPL 2022 season for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In 14 matches, the attacking right-hander smashed 413 runs, including three half-centuries, at a strike rate of 158.24.

Previewing the first T20I between India and England in Southampton on Thursday (July 7), Chopra said that India might experiment with their team but it still seems difficult for Tripathi to get a look in. The former opener said on his YouTube channel:

“There is no guarantee which team will play. We might see Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh coming in. But, I still can’t see Rahul Tripathi getting into the playing XI even though he is part of the team.”

Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik and Venkatesh Iyer are the other middle-order options for India in the squad for the first T20I against England.

Shifting focus to the top order, Chopra opined that Ruturaj Gaikwad will also have to sit out with skipper Rohit Sharma returning to the team. He said:

“I don’t see any place for Ruturaj Gaikwad as well. His injury has been a double whammy. He did not get a chance to play against Ireland. I am assuming he is fit now but Rohit Sharma is back, so I don’t see him playing in this game.”

Gaikwad opened the innings in the T20I series against South Africa at home. In five innings, he managed only 96 runs at a poor average of 19.20 and a strike rate of 131.51.

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“There will be pressure on India’s bowlers” - Chopra

Although India won both games during the recently concluded T20I series against Ireland, their bowling was put under pressure by Irish batters. Speaking about the same, Chopra opined:

“There will be pressure on India’s bowlers. In the 2nd T20I against Ireland, we saw that this bowling attack can be taken for runs - be it Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Harshal Patel. Ireland had almost defeated us.”

India scored 225 for seven in the second T20I in Dublin. However, Ireland gave India a major scare before going down by four runs. Harshal went for 54 runs in his four overs while Bhuvneshwar, Ravi Bishnoi and Malik conceded over 40 runs.

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