"It was like Carlos Brathwaite hitting four sixes" - Aakash Chopra hails RR's last-minute overseas buys at the IPL 2022 auction
Former Indian opener and cricket expert Aakash Chopra has been impressed with the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) strategy at the IPL 2022 mega auction. Until the very end of the auction, RR had just four overseas slots filled.
However, in the last five minutes, RR completed the signings of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, James Neesham, and Daryll Mitchell, all at a relatively cheap price.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra termed these acquisitions as good picks. He compared RR's late flurry to the four sixes that West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite hit in the final over to hand his team the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Here's what Aakash Chopra had to say:
"The way they picked four overseas players in the last five minutes, it was like Carlos Braithwaite hitting four sixes. That was the killer, what a beautiful job they did to get Coulter Nile, Rassie, Neesham as well as Daryl Mitchell. There are no issues of availability for this team."
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Known devil is better than the unknown one: Aakash Chopra on RR going behind Riyan Parag
The only perplexing buy by RR in the auction for many was that of underperforming all-rounder Riyan Parag. The 20-year-old has had a decent experience playing 30 games in the IPL but has only managed to score 339 runs at a modest average of 16.9 and a strike rate of just 118.5.
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He hasn't done great with the ball either, picking up just three wickets. However, Aakash Chopra feels that with other former RR youngsters like Mahipal Lomror going for a huge sum, the Royals perhaps had no option but to show faith in someone who has represented them earlier. He asserted:
"The big question that is always there with this team is what do they see in Riyan Parag that they go behind him. If you isolate him as a cricketer, you can get better options. But when you think logically, he is the best youngster around as others who played for RR like Lomror and Tewatia were sold for a hefty fee. But the number at which he bats, there are really not many options. Known devil is better than the unknown one maybe."
It will be interesting to see what combination of overseas players RR goes in with in their IPL 2022 opener against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 29.