KL Rahul won't be part of the team: Aakash Chopra makes U-turn after tussle with Prasad

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has changed his stance regarding the inclusion of KL Rahul in the playing XI for the 3rd Test match after the BCCI sacked the Karnataka batsman as vice-captain of the team. Chopra was involved in an ugly spat on Twitter with compatriot Venkatesh Prasad over the recent performances of Rahul. Venkatesh wanted the Indian team management to reconsider Rahul's position in the playing XI, whereas Chopra was backing the IPL star to feature in all upcoming matches before a final decision is taken on him. 

Chopra makes a U-turn

However, when the BCCI announced the squad for the upcoming two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rahul was not named as the vice-captain. This has caused Chopra to change his stance on the matter and he is now backing Shubman Gill to make a return as an opener in the Indian playing XI for the 3rd Test match. Chopra also wished Shubman well for the game and said that it is a good time to score runs.

"The probable eleven will be Rohit Sharma, Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami. For the eleventh member, it can be Shubman Gill, because we have to mention his brilliant form in Test matches. He has also made runs against Bangladesh in those matches. When the announcements came KL Rahul has been removed from the Test Vice Captain position, which is basically telling the world that since you are not the vice-captain, you can be dropped, so there might be a change in that part," Aakash Chopra said during a discussion on Jio Cinema.

"Although Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma both have backed up Rahul's talent, Rohit also found himself in that position where he was backed up by the team in 2012 or something, and now we know how well he has played since then. So, they want to invest that much in Rahul as well, but the time has come that Rahul won't be part of the team and Shubman Gill will replace him, as I think, so I wish Shubman Gill well. It is a good time to score runs if we look at it from the Indian perspective," he added.

India’s Test squad for third and fourth Test against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), K L Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.

Image: AP