India’s playing XI for the first ODI against South Africa.

India’s playing XI for the first ODI against South Africa.

Chopra believes that deciding on the number of specialist batters would be difficult for India.

Team India will seek retribution when they face South Africa in a three-match One-Day International series. On January 19, the first match will be held at Boland Park in Paarl (Wednesday). The visiting team would fight to settle the scores after losing the previous Test series 1-2, but their first task would be to select a potent playing XI.

There are some voids in the lineup with the absence of Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, and Hardik Pandya. As a result, the team management must engage in some brainstorming in order to finalize the combination. In this regard, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has named his preferred Indian XI for the first game. According to the cricketer-turned-commentator, India would be in a quandary when deciding on the number of specialist batters.

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India’s playing XI: The following issues will arise when deciding on the batting order: Mr. Aakash Chopra

“There is a problem with the batting order, whether to play five or six batters.” This issue is not going away. “Rahul said in the press conference that they want to play Venkatesh Iyer as the sixth bowler, which means he’ll have to bat at No. 6 as well,” Chopra said in a YouTube video.

Chopra omitted Suryakumar Yadav from the lineup because Venkatesh will play. “Some batter will have to miss out if he (Venkatesh) bats at No. 6.” Between Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer, only one can play. Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, I believe Shreyas Iyer will be at No. 4, Pant at No. 5, and Venkatesh Iyer will be at No. 6,” he added.

In terms of bowling, Chopra wants India to field both Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal in the XI. He chose Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah as fast bowlers.

“You’d like to use five bowlers. I believe you should use both spinners, Ashwin and Chahal, to create a diverse attack. “Playing four fast bowlers with Venkatesh Iyer will make the attack too one-dimensional,” he reasoned.

Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Aakash Chopra’s India XI for the first ODI: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal,

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