“Will stick with Deepak Hooda at No. 3” - Aakash Chopra backs batter to retain place in playing XI for 1st T20I vs England

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra has opined that Deepak Hooda deserves to retain his place in the playing XI for the first T20I against England following his impressive efforts versus Ireland. Chopra added that Hooda should bat at No. 3, where he scored a century in the second T20I against Ireland in Dublin.

Hooda, 27, was adjudged the 'Player of the Series' for smashing 151 runs in the two-match T20I series against Ireland. With Ruturaj Gaikwad getting injured, he went on to open the innings in the first T20I and scored an unbeaten 47 off 29 balls. He followed it up with 104 off 57 balls in the second T20I, coming in at No.3.

Hooda continued his good form in the warm-up match against Derbyshire, scoring a fluent 59.

While previewing the first T20I between India and England, which will be played in Southampton on Thursday (July 7), Chopra praised the aggressive batter. He commented on his YouTube channel:

“I will stick with Deepak Hooda at No. 3. I am not going to make a change because he batted really well (against Ireland). He scored a hundred and almost got fifty in the other game. He was absolutely outstanding.”

Hooda made his T20I debut in the series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. In five matches, he has scored 172 runs at a strike rate of 168.62. He has also featured in two ODIs and has scored 55 runs.

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“Surya at 4, Hardik at 5 and Karthik at 6” - Chopra shares his middle-order choices for 1st T20I

While picking captain Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan as his openers for the first T20I against England, Chopra also shared his choices for the middle-order slots. He stated:

“I would play Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) at 4, Hardik Pandya at 5 and Dinesh Karthik at 6. Axar Patel had played in the last match and the series before that. He could come in again (at No.7). He and Yuzi Chahal can be the two spinners.”

On the fast bowling department, the 44-year-old said:

“Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be my pacers for the game.”

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India’s squad for 1st T20I: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (w), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Avesh Khan, Venkatesh Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravi Bishnoi.

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