Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has opined on the KKR’s batting concerns ahead of their IPL 2025 clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). He added that Venkatesh Iyer hasn’t lived up to expectations and wondered whether the massive price tag is impacting his performances.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “The five Rs they have, of which they have made one sit out, and have brought in another R, that is Rovman Powell, in his place, their collective form is not there. Angkrish Raghuvanshi is batting very well. Ajinkya Rahane is also contributing well, but the others have just gone missing from the middle.”

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“Venkatesh Iyer is absolutely missing. Is it the price tag or something else? It will be a big question when KKR finish this tournament and look towards the future, as to what happened to their ₹23 crore investment. Andre Russell – is it a lack of form, or does he not get a chance to do anything at the number he bats? Rinku Singh scored runs in the last match, but Rinku hasn’t been seen playing like Rinku,” he further added.

However, Aakash Chopra also stated that the KKR openers haven’t been able to replicate Sunil Narine and Phil Salt’s last year’s performances as well.

“A big thread for KKR has been that the opening partnerships have gone missing. There was a time when Phil Salt used to be there with Sunil Narine, and Narine’s batting avatar was unbelievable. The opening partnership never let the other things come to the fore. We never used to ask about Andre Russell’s form, and Rinku Singh didn’t used to get to bat at all. These two (Salt and Narine) used to play the first eight to 10 overs, but that’s not happening now. That is one major box they need to tick. If that gets corrected, KKR’s wagon will be seen coming closer to the track,” Aakash Chopra concluded.