Former India player Aakash Chopra has suggested two changes in the Men in Blue’s playing XI for the second T20I against Ireland. He opined that Prasidh Krishna needs to be left out as he has proved extremely expensive in T20Is.
The second T20I between Ireland and India will be played in Belfast on Sunday, June 28. The hosts had registered a 34-run win in the first game at the same venue two days ago.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter reckoned that Krishna needs to be dropped as he has been found wanting in T20Is.
“I feel Prasidh Krishna will have to go out. He has played six T20Is, and he has conceded a lot of runs. He has conceded nearly 275 runs in 24 overs, has an economy of 11.5, and has eight wickets in total to his name,” Chopra said.
“You feel he is a Test bowler and can bowl well in ODIs. In T20s, he comes with conditions applied. So he is not your out-and-out T20 bowler. Of course, what he does for the Gujarat Titans makes us feel that he will be fine, but that’s the Gujarat Titans, and they have a different setup. However, if we talk about T20Is, he is a weak link for sure,” he added.
Chopra urged Shreyas Iyer and company to give Prince Yadav a debut in the final game of the two-match series.
“So he goes out. Prince Yadav is sitting outside in this team. He comes in. So I feel Prince Yadav can get a chance here. He can make his T20I debut here. You should make one change where Prince comes in and Prasidh goes out,” he observed.
Prasidh Krishna registered figures of 0/57 in four overs in the first T20I against Ireland. Prince Yadav has picked up 38 wickets at an economy rate of 8.66 in 35 T20s.
“You have 2 options left” – Aakash Chopra on the other change in India’s playing 11 for IRE vs IND 2026 2nd T20I
In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that Washington Sundar should be dropped and that two players could be in contention to replace him in the XI.
“The second change I am thinking about is that you should leave Washington Sundar out because you are not going to bowl him in these conditions. Shivam Dube is already bowling decently. So you have two options left,” he said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that India could consider giving a debut to Suryansh Shedge.
“Either give the T20I cap to Suryansh Shedge because we need batting as well, although you already have Axar Patel at No. 7, and you still find Harshit Rana at No. 8. You can play out-and-out bowlers from Nos. 9 to 11,” Chopra observed.
However, Chopra urged the team management to play an extra specialist bowler in Ravi Bishnoi.
“For that, Ravi Bishnoi’s name will definitely come to my mind. In fact, I would like to play Bishnoi against this team. I will ask Suryansh Shdege to wait a little. Let’s take a chance and go with an extra bowler, a proper bowler, and we shall figure it out,” he elaborated.
Aakash Chopra’s India playing 11 for IRE vs IND 2026 2nd T20I: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi
Edited by Kartik Iyer
