‘Big question will be if you can fit both Rahul and Pant in the team’: Aakash Chopra on India's selection dilemma

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has said the hosts might find it difficult to finalise the middle-order for Tuesday’s face-off

After clinching the T20I series 3-2, Team India gears up to square off against Eoin Morgan’s England in the 3-match ODI series which will be held in Pune. Indian skipper Virat Kohli has already announced that Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will be open the innings in the first game on Tuesday. However, the team management is likely to face a selection conundrum while naming the rest of the players in the final XI.

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra (Twitter)

Meanwhile, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has said the hosts might find it difficult to finalise the middle-order for Tuesday’s face-off. While speaking on the Star Sports network, the cricketer-turned-commentator was of the opinion that playing both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the line-up will be a tough task.

“Shreyas Iyer will be batting at No.4. The big question will be if you can fit both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the team. Do it if possible but if not, don't really feel bad about it. But for me, the one objective is to win the series.” Chopra told Star Sports.

It will be interesting to see if the team management continues with Rahul as their wicketkeeper-batsman in the 50-over format or give in-form Pant a chance.

Chopra also backed Dhawan as India’s opener in all three matches against England. The latter has been dealing with a rough patch and was dropped from the playing XI after a failure in the first T20I against the Eoin Morgan & Co.

“Shikhar Dhawan should definitely open in all three matches in my opinion because he plays only one format now, so you should give him the chance to open,” said Chopra.