"Can Hardik Pandya be a new-ball option?" - Aakash Chopra on India's seam attack for 2025 Champions Trophy

Former India player Aakash Chopra has highlighted the Men in Blue's seam-bowling issues heading into the 2025 Champions Trophy. He questioned whether Rohit Sharma could use Hardik Pandya with the new ball to address the problem.

The 2025 Champions Trophy will be played in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 onwards. Mohammed Shami, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh are the three specialist pacers in India's 15-member squad, with Hardik as a seam-bowling all-rounder.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener opined that the three frontline pacers weren't proficient in every phase of the game and wondered whether Hardik could be employed with the new ball.

"Every bowler is able to fulfill one role but not the other. Mohammed Shami bowls decently with the new ball but gets hit later. Harshit Rana doesn't bowl well with the new ball but bowls well later. Arshdeep Singh was getting hit with the new ball and then he picked up two wickets with slower ones," he said (13:55).

"It seems like he might do the job but he played only one match. I don't think the Indian team are convinced whether Shami, Arshdeep or Rana would play. Two of the three will definitely play. I don't think we have got the answer to the question. Can Hardik Pandya be a new-ball option?" Chopra added.

However, the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that Hardik would not be a wicket-taking option with the new ball.

"I don't think that's an attacking option. It will be a very defensive option if you give him the new ball. You want to pick up wickets with the new ball and Hardik Pandya is not going to do that. If you use Shami with the new ball, you feel you cannot get him to bowl the middle and death overs as he is not in full rhythm. So that question is not answered," Chopra observed.

Hardik Pandya wasn't used with the new ball in the ODI series against England. While Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana bowled the initial powerplay overs in the first two ODIs, Arshdeep Singh shared the new ball with Rana in the final ODI when Shami was rested.

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"The pressure will be on Kuldeep" - Aakash Chopra on the specialist spinner's choice for 2025 Champions Trophy

Varun Chakaravarthy has been added to India's 2025 Champions Trophy squad. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on India's spin-bowling lineup for the 2025 Champions Trophy, Aakash Chopra opined that Varun Chakaravarthy's inclusion would put pressure on Kuldeep Yadav.

"I feel only one of Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav will play and the pressure will be on Kuldeep because when Varun wasn't played, it was told that he didn't play because he had a calf strain. It wasn't told why Shami and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) didn't play," he said (15:00) in the same video.

The analyst reckoned that Kuldeep might not have played the final ODI against England had Chakaravarthy been fit and available.

"So if Varun had played, Kuldeep wouldn't have played the match at all. You had to play Washington Sundar as it would be a slight justification for him being picked for the Champions Trophy. So he too was played in one match," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra opined that Team India were still figuring out their ideal specialist spinner and the right fast-bowling combination for the 2025 Champions Trophy. While observing that the Men in Blue's batting was sorted, he added that the same clarity was not there in the bowling department.