"It's your duty to play Sarfaraz in this match" - Aakash Chopra wants Sarfaraz Khan to play ahead of Devdutt Padikkal in 3rd IND vs ENG Test

Aakash Chopra feels India should play Sarfaraz Khan ahead of Devdutt Padikkal in the third Test against England.

The crucial third game of the five-match series, which is currently tied at 1-1, will be played in Rajkot from Thursday, February 15. With Shreyas Iyer ignored for the remainder of the series and KL Rahul ruled out of the third Test, either Sarfaraz or Padikkal is expected to make his debut.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra acknowledged that Padikkal has been in scintillating form lately. However, he opined that Sarfaraz should be preferred over the Karnataka batter, reasoning (5:00):

"Either Sarfaraz or Devdutt Padikkal will make his debut. The simple answer to the question is that it should be Sarfaraz because he has been scoring runs for a very long time. It's not that Devdutt Padikkal hasn't been scoring runs for a long time."

"If you see just this season in isolation, no one is in better form than Devdutt Padikkal. This is the right time to give somebody an opportunity but Sarfaraz had come into the team before him, just like Rajat Patidar had come earlier. You played Patidar then. So it's your duty to play Sarfaraz in this match," the former India opener added.

Sarfaraz has amassed 3912 runs at an outstanding average of 69.85 in 45 first-class games. Padikkal has not been as consistent, aggregating 2227 runs, including four centuries this year, at an average of 44.54 in 31 first-class matches.

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"Your second-most experienced batter is Shubman Gill" - Aakash Chopra on India's batting

Shubman Gill scored a century in the second innings of the second Test. [P/C: Getty]

Aakash Chopra noted that India have an extremely inexperienced batting lineup heading into the Rajkot Test. He said (1:45):

"India might not have had such an inexperienced batting in the last 10 years. If I talk about the batters, your captain Rohit Sharma has played the most number of Test matches, close to 56 Test matches. Your second-most experienced batter is Shubman Gill."

The cricketer-turned-commentator observed that apart from Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, the other three batters in the top five will have a combined experience of less than 10 Tests.

"He has played 22 or 23 Test matches and then Yashasvi (Jaiswal), who has played six. After that, Rajat Patidar, who has played one. Then you will get either Sarfaraz or Padikkal to make his debut. If you put KS Bharat in the batting order, he too hasn't played many matches," Chopra stated.

Chopra expects a flat pitch in Rajkot. He reasoned that the hosts' batting lacks both form and experience, considering that Rohit, their most experienced batter, hasn't been among the runs.