"I thought that was a defensive move" - Aakash Chopra on South Africa opting to bowl first in 2025 WTC final

Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned South Africa for opting to field first in the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final. He termed it a defensive move and noted that the Proteas will have the arduous task of chasing a target in the fourth innings.

South Africa bowled Australia out for 212 after asking them to bat first on Day 1 of the WTC final at Lord's on Wednesday, June 11. However, the Proteas were then reduced to 43/4 in their first innings, still trailing the Aussies by 169 runs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener opined that South Africa shouldn't have decided to bowl first, highlighting that it wasn't an extreme seamer-friendly pitch.

"When you decided to bowl first after winning the toss, I felt it was a slightly defensive decision because batting fourth is very, very tough. So you should bat first. Of course, the conditions will be difficult, but you challenge yourself when you bat first," Chopra said (1:45).

"It wasn't a pitch that had so much green grass that you would close your eyes and bowl first because you wouldn't have played a spinner and instead filled your team with only fast bowlers if it was a pitch like that, as you would know that the match would be over in two-and-a-half days. This wasn't that kind of a surface. I thought that was a defensive move," he added.

While acknowledging that the pitch helped the seamers at the start, Aakash Chopra pointed out that it would eventually settle down. He added that the surface is dry underneath, with the ball likely to turn and bounce unevenly as the game progresses.

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"South Africa's batting was absolutely ordinary" - Aakash Chopra

Aiden Markram was bowled for a duck in the first over of South Africa's innings. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra criticized South Africa's batting, highlighting that apart from losing wickets, they didn't show any intent to score runs.

"Australia were bowled out for 212, but South Africa's batting was absolutely ordinary. First Aiden Markram and then Ryan Rickelton. Temba Bavuma is still playing, but he is not scoring runs. He is playing extremely slow. Wiaan Mulder and then Tristan Stubbs, it wasn't enjoyable," he said (5:20).

The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that South Africa need to post a total close to 300 in their first innings to remain competitive in the WTC final.

"Four wickets have fallen. South Africa's catching was outstanding, bowling was decent, Lungi Ngidi was disappointing, but Australia are way ahead in the match. Since South Africa have to bat in the fourth innings, if they don't score close to 300 runs in this innings, they will not be in the game at all," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra noted that South Africa are now chasing the game because they opted to bowl first. He opined that Australia might eventually win their second consecutive WTC final.