Prithvi Shaw will have to wait for India chance, says Aakash Chopra

India are playing in the T20 series decider against New Zealand on Wednesday. With Ishan Kishan’s disappointing form of late, there are speculations that Prithvi Shaw may finally be given a chance to the India setup after a gap of more than 30 months.

Kishan has been in a poor run of form in the T20s, scoring just 199 runs in his last 13 innings with a below par strike rate. Shaw, on the other hand, has been outstanding in the domestic tournaments. He amassed plenty of runs in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and backed that up with decent outings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well.

But Chopra believes India won’t be too keen to make changes as it may disrupt the balance of the team.

“As we all know Ishan didn’t score runs and neither did Gill. So, let’s give him a chance. Someone will have to do wicketkeeping as well, right? So, Ishan Kishan can’t be dropped. Now should we play Gill or not is another question. If you give someone a chance, then give them full chance and giving him one chance in a must-win game. So Prithvi may wait right now. So, I’m expecting no changes in the batting order today,” he said on his daily cricket show Aakashvani on JioCinema.

Chopra also believes Yuzvendra Chahal won’t be playing in Ahmedabad and pace spearhead Umran Malik can come back into the side.

“I guess we won’t see him (Chahal) today. I think Chahal will now be rested back because Chahal had bowled one maiden over in the last match where he gave 4 runs in 2overs and took 1 wicket and didn’t complete the spell on a surface where the ball is turning a lot and today where there will be no turn on the pitch. So, there will be no chance for him to play today. I think Umran Malik will come back in place of Yuzi Chahal,” he concluded.

India are aiming another series win as the T20 series is currently on level terms with a 1-1 scoreline. Indian have already won the ODI series 3-0 over the Blackcaps earlier.