Indian cricket team in action against South Africa© AFP
Former Indian cricket team opener Aakash Chopra believes that the team management has been quite ‘trigger happy’ when it comes to choosing players for ODIs and in some cases, they have picked players way too soon depending on recent performances. Chopra was reacting to a social media post that said that India have handed ODI debuts to 21 cricketers till now since 2011. The latest addition was Sai Sudharsan who played his first game during the ODI match against South Africa on Sunday.
Chopra pointed out that although the statistic may point towards a depth in talent when it comes to the Indian cricket team, it also shows that the selectors have not stuck with players for a long time.
21 debutants in ODI too.
It’s alright to claim the depth in talent but so many players getting the India cap in such short time can’t be correct.
It highlights only two things—picking players way too soon…and trigger happy while dropping them and moving in a different… https://t.co/qfwkkGBKJu
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 17, 2023
“21 debutants in ODI too. It’s alright to claim the depth in talent but so many players getting the India cap in such short time can’t be correct. It highlights only two things—picking players way too soon…and trigger happy while dropping them and moving in a different direction,” he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, India pace bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan ran riot as the KL Rahul-led visitors thrashed South Africa by eight wickets in the opening One-Day International.
On a wicket offering pace and bounce to the quicks, Avesh returned figures of 4 for 27 in his eight overs, while left-armer Arshdeep had excellent figures of 5 for 37 in 10 overs as the Proteas were dismissed for a paltry 116 in 27.3 overs.
Sai Sudharsan (55 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (52) then struck fine half centuries to chase down the target in 16.4 overs for the loss of two wickets.
India and South Africa handed debut caps to 22-year-old top order batter B Sai Sudharsan and bowling all-rounder Nandre Burger respectively.
(With PTI inputs)
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