Aakash Chopra backs India to score 450 in 2nd innings after 46-all-out blunder
Despite getting bowled out for just 46 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 18, Aakash Chopra has backed the Indian team to do well in the 1st Test match against New Zealand.
The Indian team put up a horror show with the bat in Bengaluru on Thursday. 5 members of the Indian team fell for a duck as they were bundled out in a little more than 30 overs. However, the horror show has not bothered Aakash Chopra much, as he considered it a one-off. Speaking on Colours Cineplex, Chopra said that the Indian team will back itself to score 400-450 runs as the effect of rain on the pitch would have died down.
Chopra cited the example the Eden Test match in 2001 against Australia where Sourav Ganguly’s team was followed on after their horror show in the first innings. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman put up a superb show in the second innings to set the stage for an iconic victory for India.
“When it happened in 2001, no one had thought until then that it could happen. What happened in Kanpur, we hadn’t thought that could happen as well. This match is on. I am not dreaming as of now but it’s a possibility. The 46-run innings has passed. The wicket is going to be good. The opposition bowlers who picked up 10 wickets won’t trouble you now. That’s past,” Aakash Chopra said.
“Now the spin that will come will be Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel. You should back yourselves. Even your No. 8 batter has six centuries. So if you play like that, you might score 400-450. However, to reach there, you have to stop them first because if they reach a situation where they can declare, India will lose this match,” he further added.
India Bowled Out for 46
A week after their heroic win in Kanpur, India suffered a nightmarish outing against New Zealand, getting bowled out for 46 on Day 2 of the first Test of a three-match series. India’s innings lasted only 31.2 overs on an overcast morning in Bengaluru as the Asian giants registered an unwanted record, slipping to their third-owest total in Test cricket history. It was also India’s lowest Test total at home.
New Zealand pacers William O’Rourke and Matt Henry breathed fire after veteran Tim Southee started the collapse, getting the big wicket of India captain Rohit Sharma as early as the opening hour of the day’s play. India paid the price for opting to bat under grey skies and on a pitch that remained under the covers for the good part of the last three days due to rain in the city.
There were as many as five ducks in the Indian innings. Virat Kohli, who was surprisingly asked to bat at No. 3, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul and R Ashwin were the batters who did not trouble the scorers at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.