"I have seen it for the 1st time in my life" - Aakash Chopra lauds Yuzvendra Chahal's spell for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022 match vs KKR
Aakash Chopra has picked the duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Jos Buttler as the star performers for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in last night's (April 18) IPL 2022 win over the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Chahal registered his career-best IPL figures of 5/40, including a hat-trick, as the Royals defeated KKR by seven runs. Buttler earlier smashed 103 runs off 61 deliveries to help the inaugural IPL champions set a massive 218-run target for the Shreyas Iyer-led side.
While reflecting on the Rajasthan Royals' win in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was effusive in his praise for Chahal, saying:
"I have seen it for the first time in my life that in one over you are on a hat-trick, not once but twice, and then take a hat-trick as well. And that happens when you have conceded 17 runs in your first over. Four wickets in an over, which also includes Shreyas Iyer's wicket."
Chahal dismissed Nitish Rana with the last ball of the 13th over. He then got Venkatesh Iyer's wicket with his very first ball when he was reintroduced into the attack in the 17th over.
Although Sheldon Jackson denied him a hat-trick on the next ball, the wily leg-spinner achieved the milestone by dismissing Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins off the last three balls of the same over.
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"He has been absolutely sensational" - Aakash Chopra on Jos Buttler's century for the Rajasthan Royals
Aakash Chopra pointed out that Jos Buttler meted out similar treatment to KKR to the one he had dished out to the Mumbai Indians (MI). He observed:
"Jos said whether it is Mumbai or Kolkata, it does not matter to him. He scored a century against Mumbai and now against Kolkata as well. He has been absolutely sensational."
The cricketer-turned-commentator also placed Buttler on a high pedestal. Chopra stated:
"He is the world's most dangerous white-ball batter. He plays in a different fashion. He is 24*7 and 360 degrees, he is just unbelievable. It seemed he was giving himself a little time at the start."
Chopra concluded by highlighting that Devdutt Padikkal was almost a mute spectator at the other end when Buttler was mauling the KKR attack. He elaborated:
"But when he started hitting, Devdutt Padikkal said that he will only take singles. He took singles and went to the other end and Jos hits fours and sixes. Devdutt Padikkal felt like how I used to feel with Viru (Virender Sehwag). This was absolutely incredible."
Buttler and Padikkal stitched together a 97-run partnership for the opening wicket for the Rajasthan Royals. The Karnataka southpaw scored 24 runs off 18 balls and had the best seat in the house.