Former India opener Aakash Chopra said that despite the Leeds Test being a crushing one as England beat India by an innings and 76 runs in the third Test match, the visitors must not make wholesale changes for the upcoming fourth Test at the Oval.
India was blown away on day one after being bowled out for 78 runs in the 1st innings and then in the second innings were decimated on the fourth morning after having put up some resistance on the third day.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that India has more or less a settled combination even though they might have been handed a thrashing.
"Of course, it is a crushing loss. When you lose by an innings and more runs, you know you have been completely outplayed but you are not looking at wholesale changes. In the first innings, you were dismissed for 78 and in the second innings if you had hypothetically folded for 150, then it would have been catastrophic,” Chopra said.
Furthermore, Chopra highlighted the performances of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in the second innings as positives for the Indian team.
"Now you have batted the entire third day, of course, it would have been better if you had batted a little better on the fourth day. You got important runs from Cheteshwar Pujara and the way he played, Virat Kohli got his first half-century. These are two very important elements that I feel will be in India's favor,” he added.
He pointed out that only Ishant Sharma’s performance was the concerning thing for India, while Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, and everyone else did well despite the crushing loss.
He said: "Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets and scored a few runs as well. He has been continuously doing that. Rohit Sharma is continuing in that same form. Only Ishant Sharma's performance has gone slightly down, the rest of them have done decently well. Rahul's form is not a concern as he has come after scoring runs, one match can go bad. Pujara, Kohli, Rohit - everyone has scored runs."
The fourth Test of the series will begin on September 2nd and will be played at the Oval in London.
