"Get Deepak Hooda, Manan Vohra or Karan Sharma to open with Quinton de Kock" - Aakash Chopra wants LSG to play Naveen-ul-Haq instead of Kyle Mayers
Aakash Chopra wants the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to play Naveen-ul-Haq ahead of Kyle Mayers in their IPL 2023 clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI).
The two sides will lock horns in Lucknow on Tuesday, May 16. Mayers has opened for the home team throughout the tournament and even kept Quinton de Kock out of the playing XI until KL Rahul got injured, thereby opening a spot at the top of the order for the South African wicketkeeper-batter.
While previewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the Lucknow Super Giants should change their overseas combination, reasoning:
"I have a slightly different template for Lucknow. You played four overseas batters in the last match, don't play them here, because Naveen-ul-Haq's stature as a bowler grows a lot here. Use Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni and Prerak Mankad properly because you will need Indian batting on this pitch."
The former Indian opener added:
"So you can get Deepak Hooda, Manan Vohra or Karan Sharma to open with Quinton de Kock. After that, definitely keep Prerak Mankad in the middle and then you can use Ayush Badoni. Try that your three overseas players - Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran - are not together on the ground."
LSG have used four overseas batters in their last two games, with Naveen-ul-Haq making way for Quinton de Kock. It will be interesting to see if they revert to three overseas batters for the crunch game against the Mumbai Indians.
"Naveen-ul-Haq is important in my opinion" - Aakash Chopra on LSG's bowling combination
![Naveen-ul-Haq has picked up seven wickets in the four innings he has bowled for LSG. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/05/e1f9b-16842171355712-1920.jpg?w=500)
Aakash Chopra highlighted Naveen-ul-Haq's importance to LSG, explaining:
"You might need Naveen-ul-Haq to stop the opposition team's batting and here you will have to bowl cutters, and Naveen-ul-Haq does that job extremely well. So, Naveen-ul-Haq is important in my opinion."
The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by observing that Krunal Pandya and Co. should stifle the Mumbai Indians with spin, stating:
"After that, play a lot of spin. Amit Mishra, Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi - there is no doubt that you should bowl 12 overs of spin. You have four overs from Naveen-ul-Haq. You can get Yash Thakur and Yudhvir Charak to bowl the remaining four overs."
Ravi Bishnoi, with 12 scalps, is the Lucknow Super Giants' highest wicket-taker in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. Pandya and Amit Mishra have accounted for eight and seven dismissals respectively and have been particularly effective on their spin-friendly home turf.