IND vs ENG: Aakash Chopra comments on whether Rinku Singh could replace Virat Kohli in the first 2 Tests

Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned whether Rinku Singh could take Virat Kohli’s place in India’s squad for the first two Tests against England. However, India will play against England in a five-Test series, with the first game to be played in Hyderabad from Thursday, January 25 as well. Notably, Kohli has withdrawn from the first two Tests for personal reasons whereas the selectors are expected to name a replacement as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “What about Rinku Singh? He was kept with the team in South Africa. He is not a one-trick pony. It’s not that he is just a white-ball player. It’s not that he is just a T20 player. Check his first-class numbers and he is going back and playing first-class cricket whenever he gets a chance. It’s not that he is cutting corners. He doesn’t make himself unavailable because he is in the T20 team and who is going to play him Test matches. He has an average of over 50 and has been playing for many years. So why not Rinku Singh? Very tempting option.”

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It is also noteworthy that, Rinku Singh has scored 3109 runs which came at an average of 57.57 in 44 first-class games. He played well against both pace and spin in his 13 international white-ball innings so far as well. Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra also named Cheteshwar Pujara as another batter who could replace Virat Kohli in two Tests. Pujara has scored 7195 runs at an average of 43.60 in 103 Tests so far. He has amassed 20013 runs which came at an average of 51.98 in 260 first-class games as well.

“Cheteshwar Pujara – only four Indians have scored more than 20000 first-class runs. He scored a double century recently. Form is with him and he has a proven Test record. He works hard by playing county cricket as well. He is your sincere cricketer. In fact, I say he is Indian cricket’s monk,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “So you can pick him. However, I feel India are not looking in that direction. They have already started looking in a different direction. Cheteshwar Pujara is a legit option but are the Indian selectors looking at him as an option at all? That’s the question we need to ask and wonder.”