"4 fours in the final over" - Aakash Chopra rates the Rajasthan Royals 8/10 for their picks at the IPL 2022 Auction
Aakash Chopra has highlighted that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) did something similar to Carlos Brathwaite by picking four overseas players towards the end of the IPL 2022 Auction.
The inaugural IPL champions bought James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen and Daryl Mitchell when most of the other franchises had already acquired the full set of players or exhausted their budgets.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra gave an 8/10 rating to RR's acquisitions and specifically pinpointed their sudden spurt at the end. He said:
"I have given RR eight points. They hit 4 fours in the final over. It was like Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name, they did something like that because within 5 crores, they picked Rassie van der Dussen, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham."
While terming that move a game-changer, the former India opener added that the franchise has plenty of top-order batters. Chopra explained:
"They changed the game suddenly. Their team is extremely solid. You can see Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson. The top is slightly crowded about who will play at three and four among them. It's a bit of a problem area."
The Rajasthan Royals might have to play Jos Buttler in the middle order if they intend to open with Devdutt Padikkal and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
"I think the Rajasthan Royals have one of the finest bowling attacks" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra highlighted that RR have a formidable middle order and a potent bowling attack. He elaborated:
"But after that, they have Shimron Hetmyer as well as Rassie van der Dussen. They can keep them as overseas batters at No. 5 and No. 6. After that the five bowlers, I think they have one of the finest bowling attacks - Yuzi Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult - Nathan Coulter-Nile is also available."
The renowned commentator added that RR have a few options to play the fifth bowler's role. Chopra observed:
"This is a phenomenal side. Of course, you can't play five overseas. So here you have Navdeep Saini, Kuldip Yadav, Anunay Singh - they have options available. I think they have done very well."
Khatam. Bye bye. Tata. 👋😇 https://t.co/7m4gXgxRZk
Aakash Chopra concluded by highlighting that the Rajasthan Royals have moved away from English players this time around. While acknowledging that they were interested in Jofra Archer, the former KKR player pointed out that they didn't run after Liam Livingstone.