IND vs SA: Chopra picks India's squad for South Africa; 'Tough for Rahane but Pujara...'

Former Indian cricketer and popular broadcaster Aakash Chopra has selected his playing XI for India in the upcoming Test series between India and South Africa as a part of India’s tour of South Africa 2021-22. India head into the Test series against the Proteas after defeating New Zealand 1-0 in the recently concluded two-match Test series. However, the Indian squad missed the services of as many as six regular Test players, who were rested for the series including skipper Virat Kohli in the first Test at Kanpur, and will now be eager to join the team for the South Africa tour.

Meanwhile, in a video uploaded on Aakash Chopra’s youtube channel, the former cricketer can be seen answering questions about India’s tour of South Africa. On facing a question about the possibility of Cheteswar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, retaining their place in the Indian playing XI, Chopra said, “This is a hypothetical question since the squad is yet to be picked but I think Cheteswar Pujara will retain his place in the playing XI because he has scored runs while batting at no. 3. Not too many runs but he has been scoring runs. If you look at the last few matches, Pujara scored runs in the second innings at Lord’s and Leeds and he has even started scoring runs, in fact, he scored runs in the second innings at Wankhede. And I am rather rooting for Cheteswar Pujara, however, I am not sure about Rahane”.

'Cannot drop Shreyas Iyer from the playing XI,' says Aakash Chopra

Explaining why it might be tough for Rahane to find himself in the playing XI, Chopra added, “I think right now there won’t be a place for him in the playing XI if Kohli chooses to go into the match with the current combination, which is, five bowlers, five batters, and a wicket-keeper.” Chopra further explained that he can’t drop Shreyas Iyer from his squad and he is even thinking about Hanuma Vihari who is currently in South Africa playing for the India A. Citing the runs scored by Vihari for India A, Chopra added that India should play him if they want an extra batter in their side. 

Watch the full video on Aakash Chopra's youtube channel-

Chopra also took to his official Koo account on Monday, December 6, following the conclusion of India vs New Zealand Test series, and congratulated India for their 14th consecutive series win at home. In the same post, he also mentioned that India were missing six main players at Kanpur and five players at Wankhede. He earlier faced the question about Pujara and Rahane as their place in the playing XI has been a matter of concern due to their struggle with their batting form. 

Aakash Chopra’s playing XI for India-

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteswar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja/Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami.

(Image: AP/ Facebook- Aakash Chopra Official)