July 25, 2022 media 0

Aakash Chopra Opines On Jay Shah’s Statement On India Fielding 2 Teams Simultaneously In Future

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Jay Shah, BCCI secretary has said that India will always have an active roster of 50 players, and we can see two full-strength Indian teams in action against two different opponents at the same time in the future. However, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has raised doubts over the squad depth on his Youtube Channel.

In 2021, two different Indian teams played simultaneously. While a Virat Kohli-led Indian team was playing in England, Shikhar Dhawan was leading a second-string India team on a tour to Sri Lanka. Board of Cricket Control in India secretary Jay Shah had said that cricket fans may get to see multiple similar kinds of situations in the future, as they would always have 50 players on their roster at a time.

India National Cricket Team (Credits: Twitter)

Jay Shah: India Will Always Have 50 Players On The Roster

The Indian bench strength has witnessed a lot of talented players in the last couple of years. At the same time, the national cricket board is also planning to prepare a roster of about 50 players ready to represent India at the highest level along with the much-needed help of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief VVS Laxman.

“I have had discussions with NCA head VVS Laxman and we will always have 50 players on our roster. In the future, you will have a scenario, where the Indian Test team will be playing a series in one country and the white-ball team will be engaged in a series in a different country. We are going in that direction where we will have two national teams ready at the same time,” Jay Shah said.

Secretary BCCI, Jay Shah. Courtesy: Indiatimes

Fielding two teams at the same time speak volume of the rich pool of talent in Indian cricket. In July 2021, while Virat Kohli led the Test team in England, Shikhar Dhawan captained the young side in Sri Lanka for a white-ball series. A similar sort of thing happened recently when senior players were preparing in England for the one-off Test, Hardik Pandya led the second-string side against Ireland.

Aakash Chopra Raised Doubts Over Jay Shah’s Statement

However, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has raised doubts over this statement saying that it should be taken with a pinch of salt.

“Our Honorable BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had said that with the help of VVS Laxman, who is the head at NCA, they are preparing a pool of 50 players. With such depth, you feel proud as an Indian. But you need to take this with a pinch of salt,” he said on his YouTube channel.

Citing the tour to Sri Lanka in 2021, where many youngsters made their debut, Aakash Chopra said that India did not have a fruitful tour, just winning the ODI series 2-1, and losing the T20I series 1-2. Devdutt Padikkal, Chetan Sakariya, Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham, and Ruturaj Gaikwad debuted in the series.

“India had sent a second-string side to Sri Lanka where the likes of Chetan Sakariya, Devdutt Padikkal, and Ruturaj Gaikwad made their debuts. After whatever happened on that tour, we were very bullish that we would field two teams and win everywhere,” he added.

Aakash Chopra also stated that India was given a reality check in South Africa in 2022.

“But India couldn’t win a single game in South Africa in 2022. So suddenly you realized that the depth you are talking about may not be really there. That was like a reality check,” concluded Chopra.

Aakash Chopra reacted to BCCI Secretary Jay Shah’s statement about fielding multiple teams simultaneously in the future. He said that although it may happen, depth may not be there.

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