"Might not see a better combination of four bowlers anywhere else" - Aakash Chopra on RR's bowling attack ahead of IPL 2022
Former Indian opener and cricket expert Aakash Chopra believes the Rajasthan Royals (RR) have done a fantastic job in picking a well-rounded bowling attack for the IPL 2022 season.
RR went big for the likes of Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna and also acquired the services of the experienced Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin. Aakash Chopra feels this certainly gives them an edge over the other IPL teams as arguably no one else has this depth of experience in their bowling department.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Chopra had to say about RR's bowling acquisitions:
"You might not see a better combination of four bowlers anywhere else. They have got Yuzi Chahal, Ashwin, Boult, and Prasidh Krishna. Eight overs of spin, eight overs of pace are sorted. They can get some overs from Neesham and Riyan Parag too."
Check out the IPL 2022 News here.
Aakash Chopra on why Buttler should bat in the middle-order for RR
Aakash Chopra, like many others, was surprised to see RR shell out a whopping INR 7.75 crore for former RCB opener Devdutt Padikkal despite having retained the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler.
While the RR think tank has given a hint that Padikkal would bat at No.3, Chopra is of the opinion that the 21-year-old should open the innings with Jaiswal. He opined:
"All of our eyes were opened in shock when despite retaining the likes of Samson, Jaiswal, and Buttler, RR were going hard for Devdutt Padikkal. Whom will you open with? That's the only tricky question that they need to answer."
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RR do not have experience in their middle-order and the presence of Buttler might help them accelerate in the middle-over, according to Aakash Chopra. He added:
"According to me, they need to open Padikkal with Jaiswal and see what happens and bat Buttler in the middle order. This is because, apart from Karun Nair and Riyan Parag, RR don't have an experienced Indian batter in the middle-order."
It will be interesting to see whether RR will tinker with their top-order in their IPL 2022 opener against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 29.