Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has said that Hardik Pandya’s return to the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad against the Gujarat Titans (GT) would potentially help them as well. He also urged the MI to persist with Will Jacks, highlighting that he had taken Rashid Khan to the cleaners the last time he played against him in Ahmedabad as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “One big thing is Hardik Pandya’s return. Due to Hardik Pandya’s absence, you lost a captain and a batter. The batting let them down. Hardik Pandya returning and bringing a little more stability in the middle order is the biggest theme, and things can change from there. If Hardik is playing, you can drop one of Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks, because someone will go out. I would say you should play Will Jacks because he scored a hundred the last time he played here. He was hitting sixes against Rashid Khan. He was playing for Bengaluru at that time. So play Will Jacks and drop Rickelton, and get Robin Minz to keep.”
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“The difference with Hardik coming in is that along with Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner, you can also play Reece Topley. The number of changes that can happen because of one guy coming in is the biggest theme. In my opinion, this will be the biggest focus in this match,” Chopra shared.
While talking about the MI’s bowling, Aakash Chopra said that they performed well against the CSK and added that Trent Boult would like to bowl in Ahmedabad as well.
“Secondly, there will be a little focus on their bowling, although they bowled well. Vignesh Puthur bowled incredibly well. Deepak Chahar picked up a wicket with the new ball. I feel Trent Boult will do well here. He has got the ability, and the ball swings a little here at times. So that can be used. Will Reece Topley play or not? Satyanarayana played last time, and I don’t think he will play now. So if one of Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton goes from the top, Reece Topley’s chances of coming in increase. They could also go with Corbin Bosch. They have that option as well,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
