Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded KL Rahul for his responsible knocks throughout the 2025 Champions Trophy. He added that Rahul helped India win, even questioning a set Virat Kohli for losing his wicket while trying a big shot in the semi-final against Australia as well. Rahul also scored an unbeaten 34 off 33 deliveries in the final as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “KL Rahul is blamed whenever anything goes wrong. However, the way he has played in this entire tournament. Axar Patel comes at No. 5 and he (Rahul) plays at No. 6. The No. 6 guy gets to bat only when there is a little pressure, and this is the sort of pitch where batting keeps getting tougher as the old gets older.”
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“The six he hit off (Mitchell) Santner’s bowling, there were many pivotal moments like that. Run-a-ball was required to be scored and he did that. He stood till the end. He is the one who gives you calmness. In fact, in the last match, he even asked Kohli why he was hitting as he (Rahul) would take the risk. He takes the responsibility to help his partner reach a hundred,” Chopra further added.
However, Aakash Chopra also praised Shreyas Iyer for performing consistently throughout the 2025 Champions Trophy as well.
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“I am going to talk about Iyer. Maybe slightly lesser popular choice because the focus is more on players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. An interesting stat was that his strike rate has always been better than his partner. It means he removes the pressure from his partner. Until he is on the ground, he keeps you slightly ahead in the game. You don’t expect eight to ten runs per over on these kinds of pitches, but you don’t want wickets to fall and want five to six runs per over being scored. He does that job easily and did that in this match too. Shreyas Iyer is the new Shreyas Mr Consistent Iyer,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
