'The second choice is Siraj' - Aakash Chopra picks star pacer over Akash Deep for Border Gavaskar Trophy

India will be touring Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the first of the five Tests starting from November 22. With India's pace set-up geared to unleash their prowess down under, the conundrum of India’s second choice pacer between out-of-form Mohammed Siraj and new pace recruit, Aakash Deep is the burning question in the cricketing circuits.

Mohammed Shami is likely to make a comeback ahead of the crucial series and Jasprit Bumrah is braced to lead the pace battery. Former India cricketer, Aakash Chopra has backed Siraj over Akash Deep as the second-choice pacer in the team for Australia. He added that the Hyderabad pacer should be backed through his lean patch and the pacer’s longevity is the cause of backing.

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"Akash Deep has done well, but Siraj has done well for India for a longer time. You have to give the leverage for that. It is just how we look at batters. They do not consistently do well. Look at KL Rahul, he last hit a 100 28 innings ago, Kohli has hit only 2 hundreds in the last five years. Not saying that Siraj is at that level, but he is playing. He has shown it before against New Zealand, then how he took 6 wickets in the Asia Cup. The second choice is Siraj," Chopra told JioCinema.

Mohammed Siraj has picked just 12 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 42.83 playing at home. While Akash Deep played 3 Tests in 2024 and has 8 wickets to his name at an impressive average of 23.12. On the other hand, India’s pace linchpin, Bumrah has 33 wickets in 7 matches at an outstanding average of 16.12 in 2024.

India lost first Test against New Zealand

After a disappointing performance in the first innings, the Men in Blue put up a good show in the second innings courtesy of Sarfaraz Khan (150) and Rishabh Pant (99), India could put up a target of 107 runs on board for the visitors which the Blackcaps covered and won the first Test by 8 wickets. The team is hoping to come back stronger in the second and third Test against New Zealand. 

Also read: We need to be extra careful about Rishabh Pant: Rohit Sharma

Later, at the post-match press conference, India skipper Rohit Sharma mentioned that it was his fault that he misjudged the pitch in the first innings which heavily cost the team. He also stated that the team needs to be extra careful with Rishabh Pant who missed his century by just 1 run due to his knee injury as he recently underwent surgery.