Gill, Jaiswal, Shaw among Aakash Chopra’s 10 players to look forward to in 2020s

After The Cricket Monthly magazine came up with a story of 20 players to look forward to in the 2020s, Aakash Chopra, who is also an avid follower of domestic and age-group cricket in India and beyond, came up with his own list of 10 players who he thinks has the potential to come goods. While many expected the list to be dominated by Indians, for the country has been producing many international superstars with surgical precision, Chopra has been highly balanced in his judgement, not clouding it with obvious names. 

While the former Indian opener picked Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal as three Indian picks, he opted for Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah as his own Pakistani pace picks. He has also included promising U-19 talent Haider Ali, who has recently been selected for the series against England but later turned out to be Covid-19 positive.

“The left-arm pacer is really fast. He made his debut in the Asia Cup and he keeps on growing in leaps and bounds. He has a great height and can bowl full while swinging it. His speed is great and someone who can bowl full is bound to pick up wickets. The way his career graph is progressing, it looks like the future is his. We will probably be hearing this name even more as we go along,” Chopra said on his YouTube show “AakashVani”. 

“Haider Ali is another player from Pakistan. He is a batsman of pedigree. He has already done well if you look at his trajectory. He made runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy which is their domestic tournament. He is getting a lot of praise from all quarters. He is being compared to Babar Azam, even being called the next Babar Azam. We don’t know if he can become the next Babar Azam but if he becomes Haider Ali first it would be more than good enough.”

With six India and Pakistan players in the list, Chopra further picked Australia’s Josh Phillipe, England’s Tom Banton, Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmed, and Proteas’ Gerald Coetzee among the list of 10 players he feels will dominate the 2020s.

Aakash Chopra’s list of players to dominate in the 2020s: Shubman Gill (India), Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan), Tom Banton (England), Noor Ahmed (Afghanistan), Josh Philippe (Australia), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Naseem Shah (Pakistan), Prithvi Shaw (India), Haider Ali (Pakistan)