T20 World Cup 2024: Chopra feels this player lacks the abilities of finishing games for India

Aakash Chopra (Pic: File Pic)

Ahead of India's T20 World Cup 2024 opening match against Ireland, former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra said all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is not good at finishing games.

Rohit Sharma-led India will kick start their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

The"Men in Blue" will be hoping to secure their first International Cricket Council (ICC) trophy since 2013's ICC Champions Trophy win.

Hosting JioCinema's sports show '#AAKASHVANI', Chopra said, "Ravindra Jadeja is not your finisher. We thrust him in that role, but he is not very good at it. We have not even accepted the fact that he is not a good finisher and that is a problem."

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: Aakash Chopra predicts India's opening duo vs Ireland

Ravindra Jadeja could only manage to score four runs in six deliveries in the T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match against Bangladesh. Featuring 14 IPL 2024 matches, Jadeja smashed 267 runs with an average of 44.50 and a strike rate of 142.78. The left-hander also registered one half-century with a highest score of 57 runs.

However, during the recently-concluded IPL, his hitting and consistency as a finisher in the final few overs of the game came under a scanner after some failures.

Representing India in 66 T20I matches, Jadeja scored 480 runs with an average of 22.85 and a strike rate of over 125. The veteran is yet to score a half-century in the shortest format of the game with his best score being 46 runs.

Aakash said that another concern for India is the form of another all-rounder Shivam Dube, who has been cold since the second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but the positive signs include the form of key players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav.

"Another concern is our fielding, which I think could be problematic," he added.

Talking about the approach that the Men in Blue need to take against Ireland, Aakash said that the ball at New York's Nassau County Cricket Stadium has been acting up and India will have to take a few wickets in the powerplay and also bat well with the new ball.

"If either one of those things does not work out, your morale can break. If you want to beat Ireland, you must not lose more than one wicket in the first six overs. Second, take two wickets at the start of your bowling, and then control the game with your spin," he added.

India vs Ireland T20 World Cup 2024 squads:

India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube

Ireland Squad: Paul Stirling(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Ross Adair, Barry McCarthy, Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Craig Young, Benjamin White, Neil Rock, Graham Hume.

(With ANI Inputs)