‘I am slightly surprised’ – Aakash Chopra on Ishan Kishan playing in place of Srikar Bharat in the 1st West Indies Test.

Aakash Chopra, former India cricketer, recently shared his surprise regarding the inclusion of Ishan Kishan in the first Test against West Indies instead of Srikar Bharat. Both Ishan Kishan and Yashasvi Jaiswal received their Test caps on July 12, during the opening red-ball clash at the Windsor Park in Dominica.

Taking note of Srikar Bharat’s commendable performance as a wicketkeeper-batsman during the recently concluded World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, Aakash Chopra expressed his astonishment at Ishan’s selection for the first Test. As a cricketer-turned-broadcaster, Aakash admitted to being “slightly surprised” by this decision, considering Bharat’s strong showing in the previous match.

Aakash Chopra said “He kept well in the WTC final as well. If you turn your back on him and move towards Ishan Kishan, when will (Srikar) Bharat’s number come again, I don’t know. If Ishan is making his debut, it means India have gone in a different direction with respect to Bharat. Why that has happened – I am slightly surprised because they were difficult pitches in India where no one was scoring runs. He also didn’t make too many runs.”