"We said the same thing about South Africa" - Aakash Chopra on India's batting ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has acknowledged that the Indian team has a relatively inexperienced batting lineup heading into the first Test against England. However, he pointed out that the same thing was said about the South African batting before they beat Australia in the recent World Test Championship (WTC) final.

India will lock horns with England in a five-match Test series, with the first game starting in Leeds on Friday, June 20. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retiring from Tests, the visitors lack a bit of experience in the batting department.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener noted that Joe Root has scored more Test centuries than the entire Indian batting lineup. However, he highlighted that the same thing was being said about Steve Smith before the WTC final, but Australia couldn't beat South Africa.

"The opposing team has kept three fast bowlers, plus Ben Stokes and Shoaib Basheer. Their attack is decent. The one question is that our entire batting lineup has 29 centuries, and Joe Root alone has 36. Is it Root vs India? He could be the root cause of many of our problems because he has scored too many runs," Chopra said (3:45).

"Our entire Indian team together hasn't scored as many hundreds as him, but we said the same thing about South Africa, that South Africa's top seven's total runs were 9,000, and Steve Smith was alone over 10,000. He was ahead in centuries as well. So it seemed like a one-sided battle, but Australia didn't win," he added.

While observing that India too can beat England, Aakash Chopra noted that the visitors will have to try to stop Joe Root. He chose Jasprit Bumrah as the likely candidate to do so, highlighting that it's been confirmed that the unconventional seamer will play the first Test.

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"Leeds is one of those rare grounds where you can win after fielding first" - Aakash Chopra on the decision at the toss in ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Shubman Gill will lead India for the first time in red-ball cricket in the first Test against England. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that teams fielding first have generally enjoyed the upper hand in Leeds.

"Teams fielding first have won more matches at Leeds. It's an interesting one. Generally, you bat first and score runs, and then you win the game, but Leeds is one of those rare grounds where you can win after fielding first. So, bowling first after winning the toss is an option," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that fielding first would be a prudent call if the conditions are likely to improve, although he recalled India winning the 2002 Headingley Test after opting to bat first and posting a massive total in seamer-friendly conditions.

"If the weather and pitch are going to improve, you don't hesitate to bowl first, although when India won the Test match here, when three centuries were scored, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, and Sanjay Bangar had scored runs, India had batted first and scored nearly 700 runs. You never lose when you score so many runs. Then the spinners had a role," Chopra observed.

While acknowledging that he generally prefers batting first, Aakash Chopra added that conditions in Leeds will likely favor the team that bowls first. He highlighted that Shubman Gill and company will have to choose between two hard tasks, pointing out that fourth-innings batting will be tough if they bowl first, and first-innings batting will be difficult if they bat first.