"You gave a proposal but refused to marry" - Aakash Chopra on Prasidh Krishna being left out of India's World Cup squad

Aakash Chopra feels the Indian selectors and team management did not show enough trust in Prasidh Krishna by not picking him for World Cup 2023.

The selectors recently picked a 15-member provisional Indian squad for the quadrennial event to be played at home. Although Krishna is part of the Indian squad for the ongoing Asia Cup, he has been ignored for the subsequent global event.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on some of the players who missed out on selection. Regarding Krishna, he said:

"Prasidh Krishna would have got extra pace. You gave a proposal but refused to marry. You said you can even do the engagement but won't marry. You have that much confidence that you want to keep him in the scheme of things in the Asia Cup. You have trust but eventually you don't have enough trust that you can take him forward."

Krishna has picked up 25 wickets in 14 ODIs at a reasonable economy rate of 5.32. However, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj's greater experience, and Shardul Thakur's ability to wield the willow effectively, would have won them the selectors' vote ahead of the Karnataka seamer.

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"Whoever had been selected will sit out" - Aakash Chopra on Suryakumar Yadav being picked ahead of Tilak Varma

Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav were competing for a middle-order berth. [P/C: AP]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma were vying for the reserve middle-order batter's position. He stated:

"There was a case of Tilak Varma versus Suryakumar Yadav. We all like Surya Bhau a lot and he is very close to my heart but I believe that whoever had been selected will sit out."

The reputed commentator highlighted that either of them would have been the second reserve batter, but added that Suryakumar's selection does not provide any uniqueness to the combination. He observed:

"He will get a chance to play either because of an injury or loss of form, or if you want to try a new combination. You won't be able to try a new combination because already one of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan will be sitting outside. Suryakumar Yadav cannot provide you a new combination."

On the flip side, Chopra pointed out that Varma would have brought a couple of unique skills to the table had he been selected. He explained:

"Tilak Varma could have done that. If the opposing team have a lot of left-handers, you could have kept an off-spinner. You would have got a left-hander in the middle order, if you are not playing Ishan, who would have bowled off-spin. However, you didn't give yourself that option."

Chopra concluded by observing that Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar were some of the other players to miss out. However, he added that everyone can't be picked and that there is no point in talking about players who aren't even in the scheme of things.