“Ideally, I want them to chase, but…” - Aakash Chopra opens up on toss factor in INDvNZ final

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has stated that the toss might play a factor in the grand finale between India and New Zealand in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign.

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Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Chopra asserted that he would love to see the Indian team chasing down the target and predicted that a lot of boundaries would be hit at the venue in Ahmedabad.

"The toss is important, but is it the be-all and end-all of the game? I don't say that. Ideally, I want them to chase, but Surya was saying that day he wanted to bat first. However, if you bat first, there will be an obligation that you need to reach close to 200 at least, because that many runs are scored these days," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"If you see the World Cup final story, you will realize that many runs aren't scored. However, that's in the past. At this moment, the flat pitch at the Ahmedabad ground is huge, but the stadium is small. A lot of sixes and fours are hit here," he added.

Furthermore, Chopra noted that India would be eyeing to go with Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, or Abhishek Sharma as the sixth bowling option. However, he reckoned that using five bowlers wisely would lead the team to success.

"They can think about it (sixth bowling option). You can think about anything, but will you get a sixth bowling option? It won't happen. After a lot of thinking, the decision will be this is what it is, these are the five bowlers, and then they will keep an arm around Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma or Abhishek Sharma and tell them that they would get the job done by them if required," he noted.

"However, they won't be able to do that. Using the five bowlers properly is the recipe for success. In that, Hardik Pandya bowling with the new ball and Axar Patel bowling one or two overs for sure in the powerplay until right-handers are at the ground, and then no one having a bad day are a few prerequisites. However, they will think about a sixth bowler, but won't be able to do anything," he concluded.

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