"Can't drop Shreyas Iyer after one failure" - Aakash Chopra against too many changes for 2nd ODI

Former cricketer Aakash Chopra has opined that India must not look to make too many changes for the 2nd ODI against South Africa. He backed Shreyas Iyer to retain his middle-order spot ahead of Suryakumar Yadav.

India went down to the Proteas by 31 runs in the opening one-dayer. Chasing 297, they crumbled from 138 for 1 to 199 for 7, eventually finishing on 265 for 8.

In a Q&A session on his YouTube channel, Chopra was asked if Suryakumar must replace Shreyas for the 2nd ODI. Disagreeing with the thought, he responded:

“Can’t drop Shreyas Iyer after one failure and bring in someone else. It won’t be fair as he needs to get a decent number of chances to prove himself. If you keep chopping and changing after every failure, things won’t work. But one thing is for sure, the bouncer trap against Shreyas is going to be used more and more. It is out in the open that he doesn’t like the short ball. Still, Sky did not play the first match, so he will have to wait for his opportunity.”

Shreyas was dismissed for a run-a-ball 17 on Wednesday, perishing caught behind to a short ball from Lungi Ngidi.

“Rahul should keep opening” - Aakash Chopra

During the interaction, Chopra was also asked if Ruturaj Gaikwad should be brought in to open the innings so that KL Rahul can move into the middle order. He opined:

“I think Rahul should keep opening with Dhawan for now.” Chopra explained, “As an opener, Rahul adds a lot of value. He can score 100-150 and actually win a game for India if he bats for a long time. If Ruturaj comes in, Rahul will have to move down and someone will have to go out. It would possibly be Venkatesh Iyer, which would again be unfair. Not in favor of wholesale changes as it hints at lack of confidence in your thought process.”

The second ODI of the three-match series will be played in Paarl on Friday. The series will conclude with the final one-dayer in Cape Town on Sunday.