Former Indian opener turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has suggested that Venkatesh Iyer should bat at No. 3 ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Shreyas Iyer to strengthen their batting line-up in IPL 2022. Having started as an opener, Venkatesh Iyer was pushed into the middle order after having scored a series of low scores. In the last match against the Gujarat Titans (GT), he came into bat at No. 6 and scored a run-a-ball 17.

While previewing the match on his YouTube channel, Chopra explained: “The skipper has been batting one-down, but Venky can bat at No.3 instead of Shreyas. The Kolkata captain’s two good knocks have come in losing causes, so KKR need to extend their batting.”

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However, Shreyas Iyer scored 54 against Delhi when they met earlier in IPL 2022. His highest of 85 came against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Both knocks came for losing causes as KKR failed to chase down 200-plus totals due to a lack of support from the middle and lower order. Chopra, however, praised Andre Russell for his bating shows as well.

Meanwhile, Russell has smashed 227 runs in eight matches which came at an average of 45.40 and a strike rate of 180.16 so far. Analyzing KKR’s performance in IPL 2022, Chopra admitted that he is surprised as he expected them to finish in the top four. However, KKR have lost their last four matches in IPL 2022 as well.

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“If Andre Russell is sent at No. 4 to boost the run rate since only two batters are out, it’s good. But he is coming in early because too many wickets have fallen too soon. This means they are in serious trouble. When IPL 2022 began, had picked KKR among the top four teams. Shreyas Iyer was in gun form, Venkatesh Iyer was expected to do well. With Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, the team looked alright. But things are not looking good,” Aakash Chopra concluded.