“What about the 5th bowler?” - Aakash Chopra feels weak link could hurt RR’s IPL 2022 campaign
Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra reckons that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) are still struggling when it comes to their fifth bowling option in IPL 2022. According to Chopra, if Rajasthan don't figure out a way soon, this weakness could hamper their campaign.
RR have a reasonably strong bowling attack comprising Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin. But Nathan Coulter-Nile has been ruled out due to injury, while Navdeep Saini has proved expensive.
Rajasthan went down to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by four wickets in their previous IPL 2022 clash. Ashwin, Krishna and Saini had a poor game and RR had no back-up bowlers to make up some overs.
Analyzing Rajasthan’s bowling woes ahead of their match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday, Chopra said on his YouTube channel:
“None of the top six can bowl. RR have very good bowlers in Krishna, Boult, Chahal and Ashwin. But what about the fifth bowler? Nathan Coulter-Nile was expensive and got injured as well. Navdeep Saini has conceded runs. If they sort out the fifth bowler question, and Riyan can bowl a couple, RR can still do well.”
Rajasthan were in the game against Bangalore. Defending a total of 169, they had reduced their opponents to 88 for five. However, Dinesh Karthik hammered Ashwin for a six and three fours in the 14th over of the chase. Twenty-one runs came off the over as RCB gained momentum and went on to win the match with five balls to spare.
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“Deepak Hooda is in red-hot form” – Aakash Chopra impressed with LSG's batting form ahead of RR clash
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Shifting focus to Lucknow, Chopra opined that their batting was looking top-notch, with almost everyone in the top and middle order among the runs. The former cricketer elaborated:
“Lucknow are a strong side. Quinton de Kock scored runs in the last game. Before that, KL Rahul impressed too. Deepak Hooda is in red-hot form. Ayush Badoni is batting very well. They have Jason Holder and Krunal Pandya as well.”
Chopra also backed LSG’s decision to leave out struggling batter Manish Pandey and bring in off-spinner K Gowtham to strengthen the bowling in the last match. He, however, suggested that Lucknow could make better use of Holder with the bat. The 44-year-old stated:
“The decision to leave out Manish Pandey was the right one. They brought in K Gowtham, a move that worked. But I feel Holder can bat higher in the order. With the bat, he can be utilized much better.”
Gowtham got the big scalp of dangerous opener Prithvi Shaw (61 off 34) against Delhi. The off-spinner had him caught behind, a dismissal that put the brakes on DC’s scoring.