Former India opener turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has named Evin Lewis as his Player of the Match for the IPL 2022 match between the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He scored an unbeaten 55 off just 23 deliveries to help KL Rahul’s team chase down a huge target of 211 runs. It was also the fastest fifty to date in the ongoing edition of the league as well.
While reflecting on LSG’s run chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said: “My Player of the Match has to be Evin Lewis. You could have thought about Ravi Bishnoi as well – just 24 runs in his four overs, including a four due to a misfield, and two wickets on a pitch where everyone conceded 10 runs per over. But I am going with Evin Lewis because this was a foregone conclusion, you were not going to win the match. You won the match because Evin Lewis took 25 runs in the 19th over in which AB Baby (Ayush Badoni) also hit a six.”
READ HERE: India will struggle if Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma don’t score, says Mohammad Hafeez
Chopra again shared: “The only way to chase was for the opening partnership to be very good and that happened. Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul – you keep on bowling, I will go on hitting. I thought Evin Lewis will come at No. 3 but Manish Pandey came, I was genuinely surprised. Manish Pandey came and got out and the pressure was mounting. Then Quinton de Kock got out, Evin Lewis was trying but the game was slowly moving towards Chennai. Deepak Hooda came and he played a couple of fantastic shots towards the end, he was brilliant.”
The veteran again shared that Lewis and Ayush Badoni’s stunning batting in the penultimate over bowled by Shivam Dube sealed the match for LSG.
“When he gets out AB Baby comes. Shivam Dube is given the 19th over because Bravo and Pretorius’ overs were finished. Tushar Deshpande and left-armer Choudhary had proved expensive. First AB Baby hits a six and then Evin Lewis – two fours and a six, 25 runs in the over-game, set and match,” Aakash Chopra again shared.
He has also said that MS Dhoni is constantly doing well with the bat. Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 16 off just six deliveries against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He smashed an unbeaten half-century in the IPL 2022 opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as well.
READ HERE: Gary Kirsten all set to work with Hardik Pandya
He said the following about Dhoni: “MS Dhoni – he is not a player but a sentiment. He is constantly rewinding the clock. His batting was amazing, there were very few deliveries but Dhoni is absolute Dhoni.”
“They [LSG] gave the first over to Avesh and Robin Uthappa hit a lot. Avesh’s entry and Robin Uthappa changed the environment. How well he batted. Robin was absolutely stellar. Ruturaj Gaikwad – it is a similar pattern, that he starts slowly. Here also he was probably thinking about the leg-before and Ravi Bishnoi scored a direct hit. After that, Moeen Ali comes and he shines. There was nothing happening in the bowling, whoever came was getting hit except for one guy, that was Ravi Bishnoi, he was absolutely outstanding. Ambati Rayudu also played a short cameo, Jadeja in the end. Everybody did what was asked of them. Shivam Dube also scored 49 although he got hit for 25 later,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
