IND v AUS 2020: 'India should be patient with Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey, and not drop them now' - Aakash Chopra

Former opener Aakash Chopra has opined that Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey should be persisted with by the Indian team. The two batsmen were handed opportunities in the first T20I against Australia, but didn't exactly grab them with both hands.

He made this observation while talking about the Indian batting effort in yesterday's encounter in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Indian team is not able to bat in an aggressive fashion despite having depth in their batting with Washington Sundar slotted to wield his willow at the No. 8 position.

"Indian batting has a problem that when you play six batsmen and after that you have Jaddu and Sundar, when you have batting till No.8, then you should bat in an explosive fashion. But they are not able to do that. Our philosophy is stuck somewhere in the middle, neither here nor there."

While observing that Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed early in yesterday's encounter, Aakash Chopra mentioned that Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey would need some time to adjust to their new roles of batting slightly down the order.

"Shikhar got out at the start. I am not going to say anything to Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey because they were playing their first match. One was played at No.4 and the other at No.5 which is difficult as they play up the order in the IPL. So, it is slightly tough as you get a new role here."

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Aakash Chopra's preferred batting order for the Indian team going forward

Aakash Chopra wants Pandya and Jadeja to bat at No.5 and No.6 in T20I cricket

Aakash Chopra suggested that the Indian team should look to bat Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja up the order in the long run, with Sundar capable of coming in at No. 7.

"So, that is a problem and I feel as we progress, Indian team should make few changes to their selection. They will have to keep Hardik at No.5 and Jaddu at No.6 and after that have Sundar and four other bowlers so that your batting has depth which will also be useful."

He pointed out that the Indian batting hasn't been at its best with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja bailing them out in the last two matches.

"The Indian batting is still very top heavy. They are reliant too much on their top order, Jaddu saved them in this match with Hardik and Jaddu saving them in the last match else the batting is stumbling a little."

For two successive games Ravindra Jadeja showed why he is of so much value to India in white-ball cricket as he provides much needed balance. Even after 11 years he continues to be grossly underrated and deserves a lot more respect than he gets. Feel India will miss him dearly

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) December 4, 2020

Aakash Chopra signed off by stating that India should persist with Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey for the next two T20Is and not be too hasty in making changes.

"The Indian team should be patient with Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey and not drop them now after you have played them a match."

With Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series, the Indian team would have to field a couple of batsmen along with Hardik Pandya at the No. 4 to No. 6 spots.

Although they have the option of including Shreyas Iyer, India might stick with Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey after having given them a chance in the first T20I of the series.