IND vs AFG: KL Rahul could've played in the middle order, says Aakash Chopra

Listen to Story Former India batter Aakash Chopra has said that India could’ve played wicket keeping batter KL Rahul in the middle order after he was left out of the squad for their upcoming three match T20I series against Afghanistan. Rahul missed out on selection as Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson found a place in the .

The first match of the series will be played at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, January 11. Speaking on his Youtube channel, Chopra said Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were India’s top 3 in the 2022 T20 World Cup while Rahul is the only one dropped from the team. “Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were India's top three in the 2022 World Cup.

Among them, KL Rahul has been dropped or has not been picked, there is no clarity, but he is not there. There can be a discussion on that as well,” said Chopra. He went on to say that Rahul’s strike rate in T20Is is not bad, adding that he could be played in the middle order like in ODI cricket.

“His strike rate in T20Is is more than 135, so that is not bad. There are no vacant opening positions in any case, and you play him in the middle in ODIs as well, so you could have done that here too. You play him down the order even in Tests now. However, you said you need to make some change at least,” Chopra added.

The Men in Blue will take on Afghanistan in the first match of their T20I series at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, January 11. Rohit Sharma (C), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, W Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar..