"Finch is batting with ego, a World Cup-winning captain can do better" - Aakash Chopra slams KKR opener for lack of fight
Aakash Chopra has criticized Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opener Aaron Finch for refusing to keep his ego in the pocket and taking on the incoming deliveries despite his obvious shortcomings.
Taking a dig at the Australian batter, the cricketer-turned-analyst said that better is expected of a World Cup-winning captain.
Finch, 35, has played three matches for Kolkata in IPL 2022 since coming in as a replacement for Ajinkya Rahane. In two of the three matches, he has been dismissed cheaply, trying to hit out against inswinging deliveries.
Finch will be seen in action at the top of the order if retained in the playing XI for Kolkata’s clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday at the Wankhede Stadium.
Previewing the contest on his YouTube channel, Chopra urged the Aussie big-hitter to exercise some caution when it comes to the inswinging deliveries. He commented:
"Aaron Finch is batting with ego. Hence, he is looking to take on the incoming ball, which is troubling him a lot. A World Cup-winning captain can do better than that."
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The Australian batter scored a brilliant 58 off 28 balls when KKR met RR earlier in the season.
Admitting that the knock will give Finch some confidence going into the match, he added that Trent Boult’s lack of form could also work to his advantage. Chopra said:
“When these teams played last time, Finch had scored runs. He struggles against the incoming ball. RR have Boult, but his form isn’t all that great at the moment.”
Finch slammed nine fours and two sixes in his innings against RR at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. But the knock came in a losing cause as KKR were all out for 210 while chasing 218.
“Bring Varun Chakravarthy back” - Aakash Chopra sees no sense in KKR’s four-bowler theory
Chopra also disagreed with KKR's policy of playing only four pure bowlers in their XI, which they did against the Delhi Capitals (DC).
The former Indian cricketer urged the franchise to bring back leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy irrespective of his poor form. He explained:
“If you are going with four bowlers and Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell and Shreyas Iyer bowl one over each, then you are going to be in deep trouble. Whether you like it or not, bring Varun Chakravarthy back.”
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In Chakravarthy’s absence, Kolkata used the services of eight bowlers in the match against Delhi. Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee and Sunil Narine were the three bowlers who completed their quota of four overs.