Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has opined that the IND vs ENG 4th Test in Manchester could be Karun Nair’s last chance. The batter, who made his return to the Test side after nearly 7 years, squandered yet another opportunity at Lord’s as he only managed to score 40 and 14 runs. Ahead of the next Test, Chopra has warned India that the number three position was not experimental in nature.
Karun Nair to face the axe?
In a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra claimed that the role of the number three batter was extremely crucial, adding that his performance directly impacted the number 4 batter. He pointed out that Rahul Dravid had flourished during Sachin Tendulkar’s era and similarly Cheteshwar Pujara’s ability at number 3 had brought the best out of Virat Kohli at number 4.
“It was identical with Kohli and Pujara. The best of Virat came with the best of Pujara. When the No. 3 does well, the No. 4 automatically starts doing well, provided there is a lot of quality there, as Tendulkar and Virat had. So No. 3 has been a problem area,” Chopra said.
Chopra said that while Washington Sundar cannot be considered as number three, the Manchester Test could might as well be Karun Nair’s last chance. He suggested India to consider Sai Sudharsan or Abhimanyu Easwaran for the number 3 role should Nair flop once again.
“I would say look at Karun Nair as his last chance. It’s good if he does well in this match, or else you can say that thirties and forties are not good enough, and then you move to either Sai Sudharsan or Abhimanyu Easwaran. You feel at times that you should go to Sai Sudharsan only because you played him the first match,” he added.
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