Former India player Aakash Chopra has shown eagerness to see whether the CSK will persist with Rahul Tripathi at the top of the order in their IPL 2025 match against the RCB as well. He also added that the CSK surprised everyone by opening with Tripathi instead of Ruturaj Gaikwad in their first game against the Mumbai Indians as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “What will be the things in focus from Chennai’s perspective? My first question is whether Rahul Tripathi will still open because Chennai surprised us a little in the last match. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra were supposed to come. We were expecting that ‘RR’ combination, but Rahul Tripathi came, and that surprised everyone.”
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“However, was that a one-game philosophy, or will that continue for many games in this tournament because Chennai don’t change the goalpost very quickly? If they have thought about a pairing or their overseas players, they tend to stay with them for a little longer. Could that be a reason for them to retain Rahul Tripathi so that Ruturaj Gaikwad bats slightly deeper at No. 3 and Rachin bats till the end if Rutu gets out?” he again shared.
However, Aakash Chopra also stated that he was keen to see how the CSK’s middle order of Shivam Dube, Deepak Hooda, and Sam Curran play against the RCB as well.
“The second thing I am very eager to see is how the middle order plays because Shivam Dube, Deepak Hooda and Sam Curran played from Nos. 4 to 6 for you, and none of them scored runs. If you don’t score runs and get out for single-digit scores, there will be pressure on Chennai,” he said.
“Chennai are not that used to pressure because they don’t come under pressure. They generally play very well at their home, but they stumbled a little while chasing a smallish total. A comfortable win in the end, but they got stuck when Vignesh Puthur came. At least two of the three, and a minimum of one, should score runs in this match,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
