Former India opener turned commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned Ravichandran Ashwin’s plans of primarily bowling carrom balls during the Rajasthan Royals (RR) IPL 2022 match against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Thursday. The Titans were reduced to a score of 53-3 in the seventh over when Ashwin was introduced into the attack and he opted to bowl defensively rather than attacking and the batters managed to play the big shots against him as well.
While reviewing the Rajasthan Royals’ bowling performance in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “There was not a single success in R Ashwin’s account. He was bowling only carrom balls and not a single off-spin. This year he is a carrom-ball bowler who bowls a few off-spinners.”
He continued, “Boult’s absence was felt a lot and a slight turmoil has been spread in the Rajasthan Royals. The problems are there and they are mounting. The Royals have slight concerns, one Royal (Royal Challengers Bangalore) did not have Harshal Patel and their wagon went down and the other Royals (Rajasthan Royals) didn’t have Trent Boult and their wagon also went down.”
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However, Trent Boult has missed Thursday’s match against the Titans due to a slight niggle. James Neesham, who proved expensive with the ball replaced him. Aakash Chopra also highlighted that RR compromised on their bowling by playing with Neesham instead of Boult.
He added: “They had an option on whom to play. Could they have gone towards Obey McCoy because he was one fast bowler they had available, Nathan Coulter-Nile is not available. They went with Jimmy Neesham. They played a lot of batting and extremely weak bowling. Jimmy Neesham bowled the first over and three fours. But then Matthew Wade got run out while trying to take a non-existing single. Vijay Shankar also got out. Riyan Parag was given the seventh over. First ball six, then a four and a single. You feel everything is fine but Shubhman Gill says he will also hit a six but gets out in the process. There I felt they (GT) are stuck but that did not happen.”
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya smashed an unbeaten 87 and added important partnerships with Abhinav Manohar and David Miller to help the Gujarat Titans post a 193-run target for the Rajasthan Royals. The GT bowlers then restricted RR to a score of 155-9 to win the match by 37 runs. While reviewing the match, Aakash Chopra praised Pandya for playing a stunning knock.
He stated, “Gujarat was 15/2, they were stuck. Hardik Pandya was not known for this, he was known for being an excellent finisher, for batting explosively but to take the team from 15/2 to 190 – well done. Matthew Wade got run out and Vijay Shankar was dismissed off a boundary ball and it seemed there is no escape route. Then Shubman Gill also got out. Now you are gone because what is the batting in your team. There Hardik first played cautiously and then runs at a fast pace, he nearly scored at a strike rate of 170 In the end, was unbeaten till the end as well.”
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However, Pandya clubbed eight fours and four sixes during his innings. His first 42 runs came off 30 balls and the next 45 came off just 22 balls as well. Aakash Chopra again shared that Hardik Pandya impressed everyone with his willow.
“It was being asked when the Hardik named storm will come. Everyone was worried about the strike rate. He said forget the worry because Hardik came and shone. There is no one like him boss. He has a partnership in the middle with Abhinav Manohar and then with David Miller and in the last few overs, he laid them threadbare. After that, run out with a direct hit, one more dimension. Then picking up Jimmy Neesham’s wicket – 3D proper player. Whenever there was pressure or problems, Hardik Pandya was there – with the bat, with the ball, in the field,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
