"Neither the umpires nor the referee can help you" - Aakash Chopra on RCB's mistake in IPL 2025 clash vs LSG
Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) committed a big mistake in their IPL 2025 clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He pointed out that the franchise submitted the wrong team sheet at the toss, highlighting that even the umpires and the match referee couldn't have helped them correct that.
RCB registered a six-wicket win against LSG in the final league game of IPL 2025 in Lucknow on Tuesday (May 27) to book their berth in Qualifier 1. Although they allowed the home team to post a massive 227/3, they achieved the target with eight deliveries to spare.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener expressed surprise over RCB's glaring mistake at the toss, which couldn't have been corrected even with the match officials' permission.
"RCB made a mistake when Jitesh Sharma went for the toss as Rajat Patidar is still injured and is coming as an impact player. You have two team sheets now, one for batting first and the other for bowling first. Rajat Patidar's name was there in the bowling first team sheet. At least there or four people verify that sheet, but a mistake was made," Chopra said (1:55).
"Suyash Sharma's name was among the impact player substitutes. Once the toss is done, and you have given the sheet, you cannot change. You might request or plead, but neither the umpires nor the referee can help you. Only one person on the entire ground can allow you to change. That's the opposing team's captain," he added.
Aakash Chopra noted that RCB requested Rishabh Pant to allow them to change their team. He added that the LSG skipper showed great sportsmanship by allowing them to make that change.
"You couldn't even bowl his full quota" - Aakash Chopra questions Jitesh Sharma's captaincy in RCB's IPL 2025 win vs LSG
![Jitesh Sharma captained RCB against LSG as Rajat Patidar was playing as an impact player. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://staticgf.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/05/e4990-17484163930305-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same video, Aakash Chopra questioned Jitesh Sharma's captaincy in RCB's IPL 2025 clash against LSG, highlighting that the stand-in skipper didn't utilize Krunal Pandya effectively with the ball.
"I found Jitesh Sharma's captaincy slightly 50-50. Firstly, he took the DRS quickly at the start. He didn't ask anyone. It was a huge inside edge. It's okay, mistakes can happen. You got Krunal Pandya to bowl one over and forgot him after that. Then you gave him the 13th or 14th over. He conceded 14 runs in two overs, but you couldn't even bowl his full quota," he said (11:25).
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Rajat Patidar wasn't committing such mistakes when he was leading the franchise this season.
"The way he was using the bowlers, I missed Rajat Patidar. Whenever Rajat Patidar has been the captain this season, I have never felt that the right bowler is not bowling the right number of overs at the right stage. With Jitesh, I felt it was slightly chaotic. It just did not look sorted," Chopra observed.
Aakash Chopra noted that Bhuvneshwar Kumar too wasn't utilized properly in Tuesday's (27 May) game as he wasn't given the new ball. To conclude, the analyst opined that it could be a problem if Rajat Patidar isn't available as a captain in the playoffs.