Aakash Chopra not happy with Chahal's exclusion from India's playing XI from 4th T20I

Aakash said like Indian opener KL Rahul, Chahal is also India's "primary player" in the shortest format of the game.

Hyderabad:Former India opener Aakash Chopra is not happy with the exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal from India's playing XI from the 4th T20I against England.

At the toss on Thursday, Indian skipper Virat Kohli announced that they have dropped seasoned leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Rahul Chahar has been included in the playing XI as his replacement.

When Aakash was asked about India's playing XI for the 4th Test, the former opener said, he would have played Chahal despite his poor form. Aakash further stressed that like Indian opener KL Rahul, Chahal is also India's "primary player" in the shortest format of the game.

“And Yuzi Chahal… I feel was slightly hard done by. I would have played him today come what may. Yes, he was expensive in the last few games, I’d have still played him,” Chopra was quoted as saying by the official broadcasters.

“Like KL Rahul, Chahal is also your primary player when you look at the preparations, you want to focus, rather invest on a lot of players. If KL Rahul is one of them the batting department, in the bowling department Chahal is your guy,” said Aakash.

There was another major change in India's playing XI from the third T20I as Suryakumar Yadav was included in place of his Mumbai Indians teammate Ishan Kishan.

Kishan had to sit out due to an injury that he occurred while fielding in the previous match.

Aakash also wants Shreyas Iyer to bat higher.

“This was the opportunity, a tailor-made opportunity to take the tough call, drop a batsman and play an extra bowler, that I would have done. And now coming to Suryakumar Yadav… Where would you bat him? Shreyas Iyer was your best batsman in the first game when he was batting at 4 or 5 but now he has been pushed down to sis. If Suryakumar comes in, you bat him at six/seven or put him at four?” he said.

Meanwhile, England skipper Eoin Morgan field the unchanged playing XI from the 4th T20I after winning the toss and opting field on Thursday.

England are leading the five-match T20I series 2-1.

Teams:

India XI: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar

England XI: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood