‘I think they should look beyond him’ – Aakash Chopra on Lucknow batter

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has raised questions on the place of Manish Pandey in Lucknow’s playing XI. In the three games he played for the team, he returned with scores of 6, 5, and 11. However, the team hasn’t been impacted by the right-hander’s low returns as they won against Chennai and Hyderabad respectively after losing to Gujarat in their first game.

On the other hand, Chopra has said that it’s time for the team to look beyond Pandey. The former India player pointed out that the likes of Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni can bat a bit higher in the order. Notably, Hooda has scored two fifties in three games, and both of them came when his team was under pressure. In the games against Gujarat and Hyderabad, the team had lost a few early wickets.

“For how long will you stick with Manish Pandey? I think they should look beyond him. Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni can bat up the order. What’s the point of Jason Holder coming in at No. 8 or 9. Krunal Pandya too hardly gets to bat. They have a long batting line-up,” Chopra said in his latest YouTube video.

Meanwhile, the 44-year-old further added that the team can play an extra bowler in place of Pandey as the team has a long batting.

“They can drop Pandey and play an extra bowler in K Gowtham or Ankit Rajpoot. It’s a harsh decision, but one that needs to be taken if Lucknow have to move forward in the right direction. I hope Gautam Gambhir takes it because Pandey is not just cutting it at this point of time. He has been given a prime number, as a result, the in-form batters are getting fewer overs to play,” Chopra added.