Former India opener Aakash Chopra was not fully happy with Rohit Sharma’s captaincy during the first India-New Zealand T20I in Jaipur. Chopra feels Rohit made a ‘rare error’ during the match. 

In what was India’s first game since Rohit was appointed full-time T20I captain of Team India, the Men in Blue registered a five-wicket victory with Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit leading the way with the bat. Rishabh Pant held his nerve to complete India’s victory in a last-over finish. 

However, Chopra was disappointed to not see debutant Venkatesh Iyer bowl. Speaking on his Youtube channel, he said, “The Indian team said they need a fast-bowling all-rounder, so they played Venkatesh Iyer at six. But they didn’t get him to bowl. I will say it’s a rare error on Rohit Sharma’s part, generally his captaincy is perfect, but it just left me a little befuddled.”

Chopra claimed that both Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Siraj were having a hard day with the ball and the opportunity to use a sixth bowler was there. 

“They could have got him to bowl, when you had won the toss and got to bowl first and the opposing team was struggling, especially in the first half. You could have got him to bowl one or two overs because Deepak Chahar and Siraj were not having a good day,” said Chopra. 

Iyer, who has replaced Hardik Pandya as the fast-bowling all-rounder in the team made his international debut on Wednesday. With Pandya’s constant fitness issues troubling him, India have bookmarked Iyer for the role. 

Unlike in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he used to open for Kolkata Knight Riders, Iyer batted at number six for the Men in Blue. He walked in to the bat in the final over and was dismissed on the second ball after hitting the first one for a boundary.