"No one is scoring runs" - Aakash Chopra feels batting department is letting KKR down big-time in IPL 2022
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra reckons that the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) batting has been a major disappointment in IPL 2022 and has hurt the team’s progress in a big way.
After an impressive start to their IPL 2022 campaign, Kolkata have slipped rather badly. They have lost their last four matches and now find themselves languishing in eighth position in the IPL point table. They next take on the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
According to Chopra, the franchise’s poor batting performances have had a big role to play in KKR’s shocking downward spiral. During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, he opined:
"No one is scoring runs for KKR, to be honest. If you look at their batting lineup, Shreyas Iyer has had two good knocks, Nitish Rana one. Andre Russell is pulling his weight in the side with batting and bowling. But the others are not doing anything. Things are looking quite bad with the bat at the moment.”
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Shreyas is Kolkata’s leading run-getter as of now, with 248 runs from eight matches. Russell, who bats lower down the order, is next on the list. He has smashed 227 runs at a strike rate of 180.15. Rana has only managed 143 runs at an average of under 18.
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“They should have stuck with Venkatesh Iyer at the top” - Aakash Chopra puzzled with KKR’s constant changes
Chopra also questioned Kolkata’s constant chopping and changing at the top of the order. According to him, the inconsistency points to a lack of belief in the players and the planning as well. He elaborated:
“If KKR are making so many changes at the top of the order, it means they do not have confidence in their game plan. They should have stuck with Venkatesh Iyer at the top. If they didn’t want to open with him, they should have dropped him instead of sending him down the order. Total confusion at the top. They started with Ajinkya Rahane, then Aaron Finch came in, Sam Billings opened in one game, and Sunil Narine was also sent at the top of the order. It’s just so confusing for everyone.”
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With Finch unavailable, Kolkata opened with Billings and Sunil Narine in the match against the Gujarat Titans (GT). In the game before that, Finch and Narine opened the innings. At the start of their IPL 2022 campaign, Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer were the IPL team's two openers.