Former Cricketer Aakash Chopra Supports Sarfaraz Khan for Vizag Test

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has endorsed Sarfaraz Khan as the replacement for the injured KL Rahul in the upcoming second Test against England in Vizag, starting on February 2.

Due to injuries to Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Sarfaraz Khan, spinner Sourabh Kumar, and all-rounder Washington Sundar as replacements for the second Test.

Chopra, sharing his insights on his YouTube channel, emphasized Sarfaraz’s unconventional playing style and his effectiveness against spin, making a compelling argument for the Mumbai-based batsman to debut for the national team in Vizag.

“Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar are available with this team. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli are still not there. They will have to play either Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz. You can go towards Sarfaraz because he can play in an unorthodox fashion and is a very good player of spin,” said Chopra.

Sarfaraz, a prolific run-scorer in the last three seasons of domestic cricket for Mumbai, recently scored an impressive 161 as India A defeated England Lions by an innings and 16 runs in the second four-day match in Ahmedabad.

Commenting on Rahul’s unfortunate injury, Chopra highlighted the wicketkeeper-batsman’s recurring struggle with injuries throughout his career and said: “This has been the biggest problem in KL Rahul’s career. Injuries or illnesses have come at the wrong time and they have come many times. The way he played in the first innings, and to be fair, he was batting assuredly in the second innings as well.”

“There are very few people in our team who play the sweep. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul play the sweep, and KL Rahul will now not be there in this game,” he added.