"Neither has he scored runs, nor picked wickets" - Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja's struggles in IPL 2022
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's woeful form with both bat and ball has cost his team dearly in IPL 2022.
In ten games this season, Jadeja has scored just 116 runs at a poor average of 19.33 and also has just five wickets to show with the ball. He also had to step down from the captaincy after just eight games and that too would have had a psychological impact on his performances.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra explained that while Chennai's batting depends heavily on the likes of Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu, Jadeja's form has hurt them the most. He said:
"The problem for CSK in the last game was Uthappa and Rayudu, who got out to the spin of Maxwell. They will depend a lot on these two. But the main problem has been Ravindra Jadeja. Neither has he scored runs, nor has he picked wickets. He was economical in the last game, but had no wickets to show for it."
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"If Delhi are to win this game then Rishabh Pant will need to play a big knock" - Aakash Chopra
Delhi Capitals (DC), on the other hand, have had injury woes of their own. The likes of Prithvi Shaw and Axar Patel have been an important part of their XI and their absence might hurt them against CSK.
Aakash Chopra believes DC skipper Rishabh Pant will need to play a match-winning innings for his team. Chennai have a number of quality spinners like Maheesh Theekshana, Jadeja and Moeen Ali who might dominate the likes of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Rovman Powell.
But Aakash Chopra feels Pant can neutralize this threat with his natural counter-attacking game. He stated:
"Prithvi Shaw will come straight back into the team if he is available in place of Mandeep. You don't have a like-for-like replacement for Axar so he will definitely be missed. But if Delhi are to win this game then Rishabh Pant will need to play a big knock. This is because Chennai will come with a plan of 'spin it to win it'."
While Delhi can probably afford to drop a game, Chennai will need to win if they are to keep their hopes of making it to the playoffs alive.