"Would Have Avoided...": Aakash Chopra On KL Rahul Replacing Shikhar Dhawan As Captain For Zimbabwe ODI Series

Former India opening batter Aakash Chopra has said that he would have avoided changing Shikhar Dhawan as the captain for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, beginning August 18. When the squad for the series was originally announced, Dhawan was named captain and Rahul was not mentioned. However, earlier this week, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Rahul has been deemed fit to play and will join the squad as captain, with Dhawan acting as his deputy.

"If it was in my hands, I would have avoided that," Chopra said on Rahul replacing Dhawan as the captain on the tour.

"He (Rahul) was originally not named in the squad for Zimbabwe series, I understand he is the vice-captain for the Asia Cup but there is another truth that currently there are 8-10 captains in the team. Rishabh Pant is captain, Hardik Pandya is captain, I do not think Suryakumar is far away from captaincy. Rohit Sharma is the captain, Virat Kohli has been the captain before. It was not important, this thing could have been avoided," Chopra said in a video posted on his official YouTube channel.

"Shikhar Dhawan is a senior guy, how does it matter that if he is the captain? KL Rahul can play purely as batter, it does not matter if he is the captain or not. You could have carried on with it, if you had announced Shikhar Dhawan as captain, you could have let it be. In my opinion, Dhawan should have stayed as the captain," he reiterated.

The three ODIs will be played at the Harare Sports Club on August 18, 20 and 22.

"The BCCI Medical Team has assessed KL Rahul and cleared him to play in the upcoming three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has appointed him the captain of the side and named Shikhar Dhawan as his deputy," the BCCI said in a statement.

Team India Squad: KL Rahul (Captain) Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Zimbabwe Cricket Team Shikhar Dhawan KL Rahul Zimbabwe vs India 2022 Cricket Aakash Chopra