India vs Australia: Aakash Chopra on promising India all-rounder ahead of T20 series

Former India opener Aakash Chopra expressed concern over Washington Sundar’s injury troubles and said that his body was the main issue leading into the T20I series between India and Australia. The Indian team will take on Australia in a five-match T20I series. The first match is slated to be held on Thursday in Visakhapatnam. Sundar and Axar Patel serve as the two spin-bowling all-rounders in the Indian squad, with Ravi Bishnoi the specialist spinner. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra said good things about Sundar’s valuable skills, but then expressed concern with his body and fitness issues. “The only problem is fitness. He comes with a ‘fragile’ sticker. He is so fragile that he gets injured anytime and then it becomes a problem. However, in my opinion, he adds a lot of value in T20 cricket because he can bat in different positions and bowl well,” Chopra said. In his career, Sundar has picked 31 wickets in 40 T20Is with a reasonable economy rate of 7.17. He has scored 107 runs, featuring a half-century, at an excellent strike rate of 150.70 in 15 T20I innings. Despite these numbers, Chopra is not very sure if he will get the nod to start since India already has Axar and Bishnoi as the two spinners. Also, there is Shivam Dube who can roll his arm over if need be and is a dasher in the final few overs with the bat. “Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar - can they play all three of them and (Ravi) Bishnoi as well - that will be a big one,” Chopra added. Bishnoi is expected to be a part of India’s starting lineup for the first T20I, given his status as the sole wrist-spinner in the squad. Sundar will be in a battle with Axar Patel for the spin-bowling all-rounder role. It remains to be seen if new captain Suryakumar Yadav and the rest of the management decide to field only two specialist seamers for this match.