Aakash Chopra predicts Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh to replace Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli in T20Is

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has backed Ravi Shastri's recent claims that Team India should move on from the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the T20I format. In a conversation with ESPNCricinfo, ex-India head coach Ravi Shastri said, "I wanted the selection committee to "start blooding them right now". He then added: "Players like Rohit, Virat Kohli, they are proven, you know what they are all about. I would go in that [good performers in the IPL] direction so that they get the opportunities, they get the exposure."

Now, Chopra has joined the bandwagon and made a big claim. The former Indian batter-turned-commentator feels the trio of Rohit, Kohli and KL Rahul won't feature in India's T20I plans this year with the ODI World Cup being the main agenda, to be held after a few months, in October-November. Chopra added that if India are determined to adapt to a new and more aggressive style of play, then the senior batters won't be able to adjust smoothly and following the superb performances of a plethora of youngsters in ongoing IPL 2023, such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh, etc., it is an apt time to try out the youngsters in the shortest format.

Chopra told Hindustan Times, "I won't see his (Rahul's) case to be in isolation in any way, to begin with. I feel the next generation of cricketers for this format is almost getting ready and the previous generation of players will find it increasingly difficult to be a part of the new template. If India, as they said in the last T20 World Cup that they are looking for a new template to play T20 cricket in, continue to play in the same fashion, you will see a lot of the previous generation players not being part of the T20 scheme of things."

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"This is an ODI World Cup year so anyway India will be playing fewer T20I games in the remaining year, but whatever matches they play, I don't think you will see Kohli, Rohit or Rahul play. You don't even know when Rahul will actually be available. That is why I'm saying, things will change in the next 90 days," he asserted.

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'I feel in the next 90 days...'

Chopra further asserted, "For Yashasvi I have in fact kept a timeline. I feel he will be in the Indian team in the next 90 days. The other one I feel is Rinku Singh and it is time to take him a lot more seriously. Those five sixes weren't a fluke. He has scored around 400 or more runs and the strike rate at which they have been scored and from that batting position, there is no other option available. Remember, these two aren't just a T20 phenomenon."

Rinku has a first-class average of 60 while Yashasvi has scored over 1000 runs in his short domestic career so far. So they have been performing in other formats as well it is just that the world tends to focus more on a player when it happens in the IPL," the former opener concluded.