"Obsession with all-rounders needs to be kept aside" - Former KKR batter on India's team combination for IND vs SA 2025 Tests

Former opener and ex-KKR batter Aakash Chopra urged the Indian team management to keep aside their obsession with all-rounders if they want to build a strong Test team. He opined that India did not learn their lessons from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under, where the same policy backfired.

South Africa trounced India 2-0 in the two-match series which concluded on Wednesday, November 26. After registering a 30-run win in Kolkata, the Proteas thumped the hosts by 408 runs in Guwahati as India succumbed to their biggest defeat by margin of runs in Test cricket.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the Indian side once again paid the price for over-emphasizing the role of all-rounders in their playing XI.

"If you consistently to pick bowlers who bat and batters who bowl and want depth in both batting and bowling, unfortunately Test cricket doesn't allow that. In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, we played bowlers who could also bat. But, we forgot that we have to pick 20 wickets, which we couldn't do. We lost the series there," Chopra commented.

"India are blessed as, in Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, they have two phenomenal all-rounders. But if you want to improve on it and decide to play Axar Patel and Nitish Reddy as well, then it is not going to work out. This obsession with all-rounders needs to be kept aside, for Test cricket at least, "the 48-year-old went on to add.

India played three spin bowling all-rounders in Sundar, Jadeja and Axar in the first Test in Kolkata. For the second Test in Guwahati, Reddy replaced Axar.

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"In batting, we need specialists" - Aakash Chopra on India's playing XI for 2nd IND vs SA 2025 Test

Sharing his thoughts on India's playing XI for the second Test, Chopra stated that the hosts got it right with the bowling, but need to push for specialists in the batting department. The former opening batter elaborated:

"Looking at the team for the second Test, you have three proper batters at the top and three proper bowlers at the bottom. In between, all of them are all-rounders. Both Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant are keeper-batters. Then you have Sundar, Reddy and Jadeja. I am not raising fingers at the bowling because this is the best that India has. But, in batting, we need specialists if you want to create a team."

Sundar was India's top run-getter in the series against South Africa, with 124 runs in four innings at an average of 31. Jadeja (105 runs) was the only other Indian batter to score 100-plus runs in the series.