Aakash Chopra opened up on his Dream Test XI in which he did not select Kohli or Rohit as he made up his dream Test XI on the basis of their recent performances in the 2025-2027 World Test Championship Cycle.
Former Indian cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra recently revealed his Dream Test XI based on the player’s recent performances in the 2025-2027 WTC Cycle, where he did not include star Indian batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but he included four other Indian players in the squad.
Speaking in a video on his YoutTube channel named Aakashvani, Chopra disclosed his Dream Test XI in detail. He chose his Dream XI solely on the basis of Test performances in recent times. Therefore, he did not include star Indian batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as they played their last Test match together during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from January 3–5, 2025 and both legends subsequently announced their retirement from Test cricket in May 2025, concluding their illustrious red-ball careers for India. Chopra also didn’t include Jasprit Bumrah and Md. Siraj in his squad as he has focused on the performances in the last two years. In the England series, they did well but the numbers are not adding. Then South Africa, West Indies at home and now Sri Lanka, the fast bowlers did not get that much opportunity and Bumrah has missed a lot of matches as well. So Jassi is not in the squad.
He picked up four Indian players in his squad namely: KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. At first he picked up KL Rahul as the second opener. In the new WTC cycle, he has scored 931 runs in 11 matches with four 50s and three 100s at an average of 49. Then comes Test captain Shubman Gill at number 4, who has scored 1024 runs in 10 matches at an average of 68.26 with two 50s and five 100s. He is in that type of form to be picked up. At number 6 is run machine and match-winner Rishabh Pant, who has scored 696 runs in 8 matches at an average of 49.71 with five 50s and two 100s. He is also a wicketkeeper-batter. And the final Indian in his Dream XI is Ravindra Jadeja who comes at number 8. He has scored 790 runs and taken 33 wickets in 11 matches. There are very limited spinners right now in Test cricket.
He did not select Yashasvi Jaiswal as an opener because there is a dip in his form and Eden Markram hasn’t played enough matches. Unfortunately, he couldn’t add Steve Smith or Babar Azam either. He could not add Pat Cummins to his squad, as he played just one Ashes test and suffered from injuries.
Aakash Chopra Dream Test XI squad
Chopra’s dream Test XI includes Travis Head, KL Rahul, Joe Root, Shubman Gill, Harry Brook, Rishabh Pant, Ben Stokes, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Starc, Josh Tongue and Shamar Joseph. He picked these players based on their recent outstanding performances in the WTC cycle.
India’s recent performances in Tests
India drew their recent five-Test series in England 2-2 and just concluded a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka marked by strong individual batting showcases, though the team faces administrative scrutiny over general overseas form. While India secured brilliant wins, they suffered a heavy 125-run defeat in Nottingham, which exposed vulnerabilities under pressure and prompted a formal performance review by the BCCI. India slipped away a series clean sweep in Sri Lanka as they failed to win the second Test in Colombo after a massive win in their first Test in Galle.
Source: www.sportscapemagazine.com
