"Couldn't understand what Rajasthan did" - Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals' IPL 2023 loss to Gujarat Titans
Aakash Chopra has questioned the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) approach in their IPL 2023 loss to the Gujarat Titans (GT).
The Royals were bowled out for 118 after opting to bat first in Jaipur on Friday, May 5. Hardik Pandya and Co. then chased down the below-par target with nine wickets and 37 deliveries to spare to consolidate their position atop the IPL 2023 points table.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra criticized the Rajasthan Royals' performance, saying:
"It was an extremely boring type of match. Couldn't understand what Rajasthan did. Rajasthan have been demolished. They opted to bat after winning the toss but did they bat? Rajasthan managed only 118 runs."
The former Indian opener pointed out that Sanju Samson was the only RR batter to show some resistance, observing:
"The batting was extremely ordinary. Sanju (Samson) made a few runs but the match was going absolutely one-sided. When they came to bowl, they didn't pick up a single wicket in the first six overs."
However, Chopra questioned the Rajasthan Royals skipper for not using his spinners effectively, explaining:
"Spin destroyed you but you didn't bowl a single over of spin in the first six overs. You got Ravichandran Ashwin in the 12th or 13th over. What do you do? This match was totally beyond my understanding."
Samson top-scored for the Rajasthan Royals with a 20-ball 30 as their middle order was blown away by the Gujarat Titans spinners. Surprisingly, the home captain didn't introduce spin until the seventh over of GT's chase, with Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma bowling three overs apiece in the powerplay.
"Form is temporary, Khan is permanent" - Aakash Chopra picks Rashid Khan as his MVP for Gujarat Titans' win vs Rajasthan Royals
![Rashid Khan was at his penetrative best against the Rajasthan Royals. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/05/10a50-16833476723926-1920.jpg?w=500)
Aakash Chopra picked Rashid Khan as his most valuable player of the game, reasoning:
"The most valuable player has to be Rashid Khan. He hadn't picked up wickets in the last few matches but as they say - form is temporary, Khan is permanent. Ravichandran Ashwin came and he beat him all ends up, Riyan Parag came and he dismissed him with an incoming delivery."
The cricketer-turned-commentator also praised Noor Ahmad for playing the supporting act to perfection, saying:
"He (Parag) also took the DRS with him. He (Rashid) then hit the ball on Shimron Hetmyer's pad. Shimron was asking if he could get a DRS but they were already over. Rashid Khan is an amazing player. Noor Ahmad was also very good but Rashid was brilliant."
Rashid finished with figures of 3/14 in his four-over spell. Noor, meanwhile, scalped two wickets, casting Devdutt Padikkal and trapping Dhruv Jurel plumb in front of the wickets.