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Absence of Virat, Rohit and Rahul has lifted SA's confidence: Aakash Chopra on India's loss in first 2 T20Is

IND vs SA: Former India opener Aakash Chopra said that India are definitely missing the trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul against a strong South African side. India have lost both the matches and they desperately need to win to stay alive in the five-match series.

TN Sports Desk

Updated Jun 14, 2022, 13:43 IST

Aakash Chopra mentioned that Team India is missing KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the ongoing T20I series | Photo: BCCI

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Team India are without a few of their key players as some are on break while a few of them are injured
Aakash Chopra said that India are definitely missing the trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul
India are 0-2 behind in the five-match T20I series against South Africa

Team India haven't had the best of the starts to their international summer following the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 edition as they have lost the first two games against South Africa in the ongoing five-match T20I series.

The hosts are without a few of their senior first-choice players. While the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah have been given a break, Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are recovering from their respective injuries sustained during the IPL. India got a big blow on the eve of the series opener when stand-in skipper KL Rahul was ruled out due to a groin injury.

India's batting took care of itself in the first encounter on a belter of a surface at a small ground in Delhi but the bowlers have been ineffective for the most part in the two games. The batting also saw some cracks developing in the second game as the opener Ruturaj Gaikwad hasn't been able to get the starts he would have liked while Shreyas Iyer was slow in getting off the blocks and captain Rishabh Pant got out cheaply in order to attack his favourable match-up, Keshav Maharaj.

Asked if India are missing their batting trio of Kohli, Rohit and Rahul, former India opener Aakash Chopra said that the hosts are missing Rahul very much and SA have also gotten confidence not seeing any of those three in the Men in Blue's side. On the other hand, Chopra mentioned that the losses are not helping India fill those gaps left by experienced batters as if they were winning, no one would have missed them.

Speaking on his Youtube channel, Chopra said, "Quite a bit (India are missing Rahul). When the opposition sees names like Rahul, Rohit and Virat missing in India’s batting order, their confidence is of a different level. But when a team wins, no one misses anyone.

"No one is saying South Africa is missing (Aiden) Markram or (Quinton) de Kock. The opposite happens when the team loses,” Chopra added.

India need to win all three of their remaining games to win the series as one more loss and the Proteas will take an unassailable lead.

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