Aakash Chopra picks 2 Indians among his 6 best spinners in this year's IPL
Former opening batsman Aakash Chopra has picked two Indian spinners in his list of six best spinners to look out for in this year's IPL. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are a couple of Indian team regulars who failed to make this list.
While speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked six spinners who are expected to rule the roost in this year's IPL, considering that the pitches in the UAE are expected to assist the spin bowlers.
Aakash Chopra opted for Afghanistan mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who will play for Kings XI Punjab, at the sixth position while pointing out the variations possessed by the 19-year-old.
"At No.6, I am picking Mujeeb Ur Rahman. He will be seen playing for Punjab. He has two or three very good variations. He bowls with the new ball and also in the middle overs. His quicker one which comes in slightly is very good. He has a carrom ball and a very good googly. You cannot call him either an off-spinner or a leg-spinner. He is also playing in the CPL, so will be coming with form."
Imran Tahir was Aakash Chopra's pick at the fifth position. The South African leg-spinner will show his wares for a Chennai Super Kings team blessed with a plethora of spin-bowling options including Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Karn Sharma and Mitchell Santner.
"At No.5, I am going with Imran Tahir. What a spin-bowling department CSK has with Jaddu, Bhajji, Tahir, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla and Santner. They have an army of spinners. But Imran Tahir for a variety of reasons, the first being he does very well in T20 cricket. He has a very good googly with a flatter trajectory and bowls slow flighted deliveries in between as well. And Dhoni will get the best out of him."
Aakash Chopra went for Ravichandran Ashwin as his fourth-best spinner for the upcoming IPL while observing that the temperament of the Delhi Capitals' new recruit sets him apart.
"At No.4, I am going with Ravichandran Ashwin. It is a new team for Ash and I feel he will play a big role for Delhi Capitals. He has the experience, he has a normal off-spin and the carrom ball and bowls the googly also in between. But the thing I like most about him is his temperament, he doesn't get flustered. He is like 24-carat gold. He will be giving 7-7.25 runs per over the whole season, will play all the matches and take a lot of wickets."
Aakash Chopra's top 3 spin-bowling picks for IPL 2020
Aakash Chopra went with the West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine as his third-best spinner in IPL 2020, mentioning that the latter could be the game-changer for KKR if used well by Dinesh Karthik.
"At No.3, I am going with Sunil Narine. His action has changed a little and has not been that effective after the change. But he will have the CPL form and will also get the big grounds. So if Dinesh Karthik uses him well, then this player will do very well and win matches for KKR."
While pointing out there is a close contest for the top spot, Aakash Chopra opted for the wily RCB leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal as his second-best spinner in the forthcoming IPL.
"I have two leg-spinners left and there is a lot of fight between the two but I am going with Chahal at No.2. His biggest plus point is his brain. Skill-wise he is very good but he outfoxes the batsmen with his brain. The big grounds will also help him."
Aakash Chopra added that he did not include Kuldeep Yadav in this list because of the relatively indifferent IPL the KKR spinner had last year.
"Kuldeep could also have been there but his last IPL was not that good."
Sunrisers Hyderabad leg-spinner Rashid Khan took the top spot in Aakash Chopra's list of spinners to look out for in IPL 2020, with the Afghanistan bowler seemingly having developed a new delivery as well.
"At No.1, I have got the Afghanistan lion Rashid Khan. I have kept him at No.1 due to 2-3 reasons although we saw in the last IPL that batsmen had figured him out a little. But he is coming after playing the CPL. So he will get into this tournament and hit the ground running. He has also mentioned that he is developing a new delivery. Shane Warne had seen that delivery and he was very impressed."
Rashid Khan is the second-highest wicket-taker for SRH in the IPL, only behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has accounted for 55 batsmen in the 46 matches he has played, at an excellent average of 21.69 and an outstanding economy rate of 6.55.