Rohit Sharma's BLUNDER Pointed Out by Aakash Chopra After India Lose 1st Test vs New Zealand

India vs New Zealand: India captain Rohit Sharma faced the heat after the loss against New Zealand in the first Test. A few decisions of Rohit has come under the scanner after India lose at M. Chinnaswamy. Former India opener Aakash Chopra reckoned Ravichandran Ashwin should have got to bowl more in the fourth innings. 

‘That was surprising’

“No doubt the runs were less, but we didn’t get Ashwin to bowl at all. I am not saying we would have won the match if Ashwin had bowled, but we didn’t get him to bowl. That was surprising, and how? Why was Ashwin not bowled? I don’t have an answer for that because, if you see his numbers, he is your team’s best bowler. No one has taken more wickets than him in Test matches. Left-handers were playing, but you still didn’t get him to bowl. It was not understandable at all,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“You still understand Bumrah’s long spell because only two wickets fell and he took both. However, Mohammed Siraj from the other end. Although he was bowling well with the new ball when you stopped him, you could have gotten either Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) or Ashwin first; that’s fine, but you used Ashwin as the fifth option,” he added.

How Can India Qualify For The WTC 2023-25 Final

Despite the loss, Team India has remained firm on top in the updated World Test Championship points table. However, the loss has somewhat distanced the WTC final spot from India. With seven games left in the cycle, Team India needs to pick a "W" in four of them at least and requires two draws too, in order to qualify for the final. A clean sweep over New Zealand would have taken the pressure off but it wasn't to be. In fact, India would now look to pick victories over New Zealand in the remaining two matches at any cost. The objective would be to cover as much ground as possible ahead of the daunting tour Downunder, where India will play Australia five Tests in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.