"They will make him sit on the bench and watch the IPL properly" - Aakash Chopra questions Rajasthan Royals' acquisition of Joe Root
Aakash Chopra has questioned the Rajasthan Royals (RR) for picking Joe Root at the IPL 2023 auction. He reckons the former England skipper will just warm the bench during next year's edition of the prestigious league.
The Royals acquired Root for ₹1 crore as their final pick at the mini-auction in Kochi on Friday, December 23. They bought a total of nine players, with Jason Holder, Donavon Ferreira and Adam Zampa being their other three overseas picks.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra had contrasting views about Rajasthan Royals' three prominent foreign additions, saying:
"They didn't have too much money - around 13 crores. They bought Jason Holder and Adam Zampa. In my opinion, both are extremely good acquisitions. They have bought Joe Root. I have got no idea why they bought him. They will make him sit on the bench and watch the IPL properly."
The former Indian opener highlighted that the Jaipur-based franchise was looking for a lower-middle order all-rounder, reasoning:
"They were looking for a lower-middle order all-rounder because they used to go with six batters and five bowlers, in which all of them were top-order batters. If you see Yashasvi Jaiswal along with Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal - that makes it your top four but all four of them want to open, their ideal place is opening."
However, Chopra acknowledged that the Rajasthan Royals' IPL 2022 combination wasn't bad either, elaborating:
"After that, you used to play Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag, and then five proper bowlers - Ashwin, Chahal, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Sen. This team is also not bad, if you want to go with this option, or you can play Obey McCoy if you have played only two overseas at the top."
The Royals lacked a genuine all-rounder in last season's IPL. They tried the likes of James Neesham and Daryl Mitchell for a couple of games apiece but it did not yield the desired results.
"Zampa is a phenomenal pick" - Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals' acquisition of the Australian leg-spinner
Chopra pointed out that while Holder will lengthen Rajasthan Royals' batting, Zampa will give them another spin-bowling option on tracks like Chepauk, observing:
"Now you can have Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Riyan Parag, and then you can have the same bowling as earlier. Zampa also is a phenomenal pick but you will need him only if you are going to turning pitches like Chepauk."
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The Royals acquired Holder and Zampa for ₹5.75 and ₹1.5 crore respectively. They also added Murugan Ashwin (₹20 lakh) as another leg-spin backup for Yuzvendra Chahal.