'Need replacement for Hardik Pandya' - Aakash Chopra on Shivam Dube's selection for Afghanistan T20Is

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan on Sunday, January 7.

One of the biggest talking points from the squad announcement was the highly-anticipated returns of captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli. They are set to play a T20I encounter after 14 months. However, there is another interesting selection that former Indian opener Aakash Chopra shed light on, as all-rounder Shivam Dube has been recalled after being left out for the T20Is in South Africa.

Dube was a part of India's squad for the five-match home T20I series against Australia before being left out of the South Africa tour. Chopra felt that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player has been picked as a replacement for all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who is yet to recover from the ankle injury he sustained during the ODI World Cup 2023. However, he couldn't understand why Dube was left out of the South Africa tour.

“The Indian team have brought Shivam Dube back. That's not a surprise for me because you probably need a replacement for Hardik Pandya, but I am thinking you needed that in South Africa as well,” Chopra said in a video uploaded on his official YouTube channel. 

Chopra also questioned the reasoning behind Dube not being played in any of India's five T20Is against Australia, right after the ODI World Cup.

“You could have played him in one or two matches against Australia as well. You play with six batters and five bowlers. You don't have a sixth bowling option, but you don't make a change. Dube was in the team for five matches in India, but you didn't play him in even one,” Chopra explained. 

The 46-year-old could not understand why India did not change their combination of six batters and five bowlers during the South Africa series, adding that Dube could have come in handy in South African conditions.

“You didn't play Washington Sundar either. You persisted with that same six (batters) and five (bowlers) combination. If you wanted to change that, why didn't you take Shivam Dube to South Africa? It would have been the best chance to play him in South African conditions,” he observed.

Washington was in the squad for both the T20I assignments against Australia and South Africa but did not get to play a single game.

Three fast bowlers are slightly less, so you might see Shivam Dube playing: Aakash Chopra

India have picked only three frontline pacers - Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan in their 16-member squad for the T20Is against Afghanistan. Chopra reckoned that Dube might get to play in the series as three pacers is 'slightly less'.

“Three fast bowlers are slightly less, so you might see Shivam Dube playing. However, the truth is that you will have either Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal with Rohit Sharma, then Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma. Then you will again play only five bowlers,” Chopra added.

The former Delhi batter opined that Tilak Varma might have to sit out to accommodate Dube in the playing XI. The first T20I is set to be played on Thursday, January 11, in Mohali.