T20 World Cup 2026: Aakash Chopra points out a big remark on India's combination
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Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has dismissed concerns surrounding the apparent shortage of right-handed batters in India’s potential lineup ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, stating that the issue is being overstated. According to Chopra, batting balance is important, but it should not overshadow form, impact, and adaptability - qualities India have already proven they possess. Chopra pointed to India’s triumphant T20 World Cup 2024 campaign as a clear example, highlighting that the team lifted the trophy with a batting order largely dominated by right-handers.
T20 World Cup 2026: Batting handedness is a problem for India?
That success, he argued, underlines the fact that winning combinations are not determined by batting handedness alone but by how effectively players execute their roles under pressure. Addressing recent discussions about a possible left-heavy lineup, Chopra noted that if Ishan Kishan opens the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma, with Tilak Varma coming in at No. 3, India could end up fielding a top order stacked with left-handers. This scenario has sparked debate, especially with the possibility that only Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya would be the right-handed batters in the top eight.
"This is very interesting. Earlier, we used to say that a left-right combination should be there, and that left-handers are very important. Now we are saying keep right-handers as there is no one else apart from Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik. Is that a problem?," stated former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra.
"You want to play your best team. If it's all right-handers, they also play. You keep an odd left-hander in between. You used to send Axar Patel up the order at times. You have done this job earlier. You even won the World Cup with that. Here you can keep right-handers in between. I don't see that as a big problem," he added.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has dismissed concerns surrounding the apparent shortage of right-handed batters in India’s potential lineup ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, stating that the issue is being overstated. According to Chopra, batting balance is important, but it should not overshadow form, impact, and adaptability - qualities India have already proven they possess. Chopra pointed to India’s triumphant T20 World Cup 2024 campaign as a clear example, highlighting that the team lifted the trophy with a batting order largely dominated by right-handers. That success, he argued, underlines the fact that winning combinations are not determined by batting handedness alone but by how effectively players execute their roles under pressure.
Addressing recent discussions about a possible left-heavy lineup, Chopra noted that if Ishan Kishan opens the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma, with Tilak Varma coming in at No. 3, India could end up fielding a top order stacked with left-handers. This scenario has sparked debate, especially with the possibility that only Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya would be the right-handed batters in the top eight.
"I don't see a potential weakness. There might be a day when, because we have a lot of strokemakers, we are suddenly 25/3 or 25/4, and then we are not able to really manage. That's a possibility, but it's a long shot. We might drop catches. That could be a potential weakness. In bowling, I feel everything is fine. Dew could be a problem. There is no such thing as weakness in this Indian team," Chopra concluded.
