Aakash Chopra assembles Punjab T20 squad to beat an IPL side amid NZ vs IND 2026 series; picks 5 India players

Former cricketer Aakash Chopra assembled a T20 squad by selecting players from Punjab during the T20I series between New Zealand and India. He included five India players, a few of whom are currently playing in the ongoing T20I series against the Kiwis.

Aakash Chopra picked a 15-member squad. His openers included star batter Abhishek Sharma and India's Test and ODI captain, Shubman Gill. At number three, he picked wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh, followed by former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Anmolpreet Singh.

At number five, he picked Naman Dhir, who recently made his India debut, followed by Nehal Wadhera at number six and Ramandeep Singh at seven to add all-round depth. At eight, he included left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar. He then added Mayank Markande as the wrist-spinner, followed by Gurnoor Brar and Arshdeep Singh as the two fast bowlers. He also picked Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Ashwani Kumar as the impact player.

The other three players to round off the 15-man squad were Krish Bhagat, Raghu Sharma, and Salil Arora. He claimed that this squad could be good enough to beat any IPL side.

Aakash Chopra's 15-member Punjab T20 squad: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Naman Dhir, Nehal Wadhera, Ramandeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Mayank Markande, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Krish Bhagat, Raghu Sharma, Salil Arora.

Aakash Chopra's huge question for India despite successful start to New Zealand tour

Meanwhile, the Men in Blue have had a successful start to the New Zealand tour. They won the first T20I by four wickets and the second game by the same margin. India are firmly placed and 2-0 up in the five-match series.

Despite the successful start, Aakash Chopra had a big question regarding India's combination. He questioned the strategy of not playing a lead spinner, Varun Chakaravarthy or Kuldeep Yadav, given the fact that New Zealand's spinners have managed to trouble the Indian batters so far in the series.

"Why are we not playing more spinners? New Zealand showed us once again. It was a used surface, a big ground, big boundaries. Santner took four wickets. Our spinners bowled five overs today and did well. Why are we not playing an extra spinner then? We can rest one fast bowler and need to think a bit about this. We have both Varun and Kuldeep. This game was a chance to throw in another spinner," he said in a video on his YouTube channel.

India have played Axar Patel as the main spinner in the series so far. While Naman Dhir is also a spin-bowling all-rounder, he has bowled just one over across two matches.

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