Former India player and veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned KKR’s batting order in their IPL 2025 win against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). He added that Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi should not bat together for KKR. Rahane (38 off 27) and Raghuvanshi (50 off 32) added an 81-run third-wicket partnership as KKR set SRH a 201-run target in Kolkata on Thursday, April 3 as well. Later, KKR bowled SRH out for 120 to register a comprehensive 80-run win as well.
While talking about KKR’s batting in a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Ajinkya Rahane played at No. 3 and became slightly slow after the powerplay. Angkrish Raghuvanshi has become this team’s permanent No. 4. It’s an unpopular opinion, I love the kid, but I feel Rahane and Raghuvanshi cannot play together. Raghuvanshi scored a fifty, and Rahane also scored 38 runs, but you take the team to a position from where you need a miraculous finish,” he said.
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“Such a finish comes at times and doesn’t come on other occasions. It came this time. Both batted well. However, one of the two can play, but if both play together, Venky Iyer is pushed too low. He got to play only 29 balls. He scored 60. He would have scored 80 or 85, and maybe 90, if he had played 40 balls and had been in the same form,” he again shared.
However, Aakash Chopra also stated that Venkatesh Iyer shouldn’t bat at No. 5 and Ramandeep Singh shouldn’t be slotted at No. 9 in the KKR’s batting order.
“It seems as though I am saying something unnecessarily for a winning team. You might say you found a KKR hater, but I am talking for their good. Firstly, why is Ramandeep at No. 9? He should bat up the order. Venkatesh Iyer shouldn’t play at No. 5. From the first match of 2024 till now, Rinku Singh has played 16-plus balls only twice, and one was in this match. You have kept so many players but are reluctant to send them up the order. You scored 200 and had wickets in hand. It might be in your mind whether you left a little more on the surface,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
