Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra shared his thoughts on the recent team selection for India’s upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka. Chopra spoke about some of the major decisions taken during the selection, including the inclusion of Riyan Parag in the squad despite his poor performance in the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe and the decision to give vice-captaincy to Shubman Gill in place of Hardik Pandya.

Team India is scheduled to play three T20Is and three ODIs against Sri Lanka in Pallekele from July 27. Meanwhile, in a video posted on his YouTube channel, Chopra elaborated on the T20I squad announced for the series. He highlighted Shubman Gill’s new role and the selection of Parag over other batsmen like Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Aakash Chopra talked about the squad selected for the Sri Lanka tour

In the video, Aakash Chopra said, “Shubman Gill is the vice-captain, and this is a big story. Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain of the Indian team in the World Cup. He also performed very well. India also won the World Cup, but after that his name is not there as the vice-captain.”

The former Indian then further said, “Riyan Parag’s name is in both the teams, in ODIs as well as T20Is. His name is there despite the Zimbabwe tour not being that good. Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s name is not there. I am talking about T20Is. Both of their names are not there, but Riyan Parag’s is there. This in itself tells a different story.”

Parag could only score 24 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 88.88 during the T20 series against Zimbabwe. In contrast, Abhishek Sharma scored 124 runs in four innings including a century at a strike rate of 174.64, while Gaikwad scored 133 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 158.33. The first T20 match of the series against Sri Lanka will be played on 27 July in Pallekele and the ODI match will be played from 2 August in Colombo.