Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned MS Dhoni’s batting position in the CSK’s IPL 2025 defeat to the RCB. He also added that Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda and Sam Curran have been found wanting with the bat as well. RCB set CSK a 197-run target after being asked to bat first in Chennai and CSK only managed only 146 for eight in the chase, losing the game by 50 runs as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda and Sam Curran aren’t scoring runs. Shivam Dube played for some time, but he too didn’t score too many runs. You cannot play with this batting. Firstly, Ruturaj Gaikwad doesn’t open because they have to make Rahul Tripathi open. Rahul Tripathi is not scoring runs and Deepak Hooda is not looking that great. Playing Sam Curran at No. 5 is at least two numbers too high, and Dhoni doesn’t come to bat at all. The Chennai fans want two things – firstly, Dhoni should hit sixes, and secondly, Chennai should win.”
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“He should have definitely come where Ashwin came to bat. Why would you bat at No. 9? It’s understandable if you are unable to strike the ball, but if you are batting so well and can hit sixes, please come to bat slightly up the order. You were too late in coming in. I am not convinced at all that he should come so low,” Chopra shared again.
While talking about RCB’s bowling in the same video, Aakash Chopra applauded Josh Hazlewood for dismissing three CSK batters with short balls as well.
“Josh Hazlewood should be spoken about because he picked up three wickets, and all three wickets were with short balls. He first dismissed Rahul Tripathi, then Ruturaj Gaikwad, and after that, Ravindra Jadeja too with a short ball. He did not bowl the format. The T20 format says that you shouldn’t bowl length balls for long, but he said his strength is to bowl back of the length, hit the wicket a little, and use bouncers in between, as if he was playing a Test match at Perth. He bowled exactly like that. He was brilliant, and that made a huge difference in the end,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
