"Venkatesh Iyer made runs but his start was extremely slow" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's batting in IPL 2023 loss to RR
Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) cause was not helped by Venkatesh Iyer's extremely slow start to his innings in their IPL 2023 clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Iyer scored a 42-ball 57 as Nitish Rana and Co. set a 150-run target for RR after being asked to bat first at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, May 11. Sanju Samson and Co. chased down the target with nine wickets and 41 deliveries to spare to hand the home team a royal drubbing.
While reflecting on KKR's batting in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Venkatesh Iyer's sluggish start after the loss of two early wickets put them behind the eight ball, elaborating:
"Sanju Samson opted to bowl first after winning the toss. They played Trent Boult here, which was the right thing to do, who picked up two wickets right at the start - Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz were both dismissed."
The former Indian opener added:
"After that, there is no doubt that Venkatesh Iyer made runs but his start was extremely slow. The pitch was slow, it was turning a little - a typical pitch that Kolkata should have liked but they didn't because they didn't score enough runs."
Trent Boult's early strikes reduced KKR to 29/2 after 4.1 overs. Iyer then scored just 11 runs off the first 20 balls he faced, which resulted in the two-time champions being restricted to 58/2 after nine overs.
"He is brilliant" - Aakash Chopra lauds Yuzvendra Chahal's spell vs KKR
![Yuzvendra Chahal ran through the KKR middle order. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/05/47ada-16838669854707-1920.jpg?w=500)
Reflecting on the Rajasthan Royals' bowling, Aakash Chopra heaped praise on Yuzvendra Chahal, stating:
"Ashwin remained wicketless. Joe Root also bowled off-spin, he too didn't get a wicket. But Yuzi Chahal one more time - chatur chalak chanchal Chahal. He is brilliant. He has the most wickets in this tournament (IPL 2023) already with a slightly slowish start."
The reputed commentator highlighted that the leg-spinner's spell restricted the Kolkata Knight Riders to a total that proved well below par in the end, saying:
"The wagon has suddenly gathered pace. Four wickets in the last match as well, so he has picked up eight wickets in the last two matches. He was absolutely stellar. There is no doubt that the score was below par but no one thought it was so much below par."
Chahal registered figures of 4/25 in his four-over spell. Yashasvi Jaiswal then smoked an unbeaten 98 off 47 balls and strung together an unbroken 121-run second-wicket partnership with Samson (48* off 29) to help RR register a comprehensive win.