Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has urged the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to play Rilee Rossouw in place of Jonny Bairstow in their IPL 2024 clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Mullanpur on Thursday, April 18 as well. With four points from six games, PBKS are now in eighth place in the points table, just above MI based on net run rate. A win against Mumbai will help them join three other teams on six points as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “If Shikhar Dhawan isn’t available, I am saying tata bye-bye to Jonny Bairstow. You are not scoring runs and were playing at less than a run-a-ball last time. It makes no sense. Then you move away and say that you should try to do something different. I think you should play Rilee Rossouw in this match. He is sitting outside, so you can play him in place of Bairstow.”
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“You can get Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran Singh to open if Shikhar isn’t available. Rilee Rossouw was bought very expensive at the end of the auction and he is the same player who thrashed them (Punjab Kings) in Dharamsala. So play him and expect him to do the job Jonny Bairstow hasn’t been able to do. So my first player is Rilee Rossouw,” he again added.
However, he has scored 96 runs at an average of 16.00 in six innings in IPL 2024. The veteran England opener might have to make way for
Rossouw, who was bought by PBKS for ₹8 crore at the auction as well. Aakash Chopra said that Liam Livingstone is the second Punjab Kings
player to watch out for against the Mumbai Indians. He also named Shashank Singh as the third Punjab Kings player he is eager to watch as well.
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“My second player is Liam Livingstone. If I remember correctly, they sent him to bat at No. 7 in the last match. I don’t know what was the logic behind that. So get him to bat slightly up the order and I want him to score runs as well. The opposing attack is not that good, so you will look towards Liam Livingstone to score runs. Since this team will have to bat well, the third player I am choosing is Shashank Singh. Play him also slightly up the order – give him a chance and see what happens. Make your batting slightly stronger towards the top. Shashank has the power and form, and he can take on the opposition,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
