"Will you play him at No. 8?" - Aakash Chopra questions RR's batting order in IPL 2025 loss to KKR
Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned the Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the batting order they employed in their IPL 2025 loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He pointed out that Shimron Hetmyer, the only overseas batter in their playing XI, was sent to bat at No. 8.
RR set KKR a 152-run target after being asked to bat first in an IPL 2025 game in Guwahati on Wednesday, March 26. The defending champions then achieved the target with eight wickets and 15 deliveries to spare to register their first win of the season.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener wondered why the Rajasthan Royals left Shubham Dubey out of their starting XI and batted Shimron Hetmyer at No. 8 in their IPL 2025 clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
"The batting order was a disorder. When you announced the XI while batting first, Shubham Dubey's name was not there. Shubham Dubey is the player who scored 35 runs off 11 or 12 balls in the last match, and you couldn't make a place for him. You sent Wanindu Hasaranga, and then he too got out," he said (11:05).
"Then you sent Shubham Dubey before Shimron Hetmyer, and I am wondering if you have a grand total of one overseas batter, will you play him at No. 8? Is there any pure batter in world cricket who bats at No. 8 in a T20 match? It was absolutely beyond my understanding. So this batting order, I don't know how to comment on it, but it did not make any sense whatsoever," Chopra added.
Shubham Dubey scored nine runs off 12 deliveries after coming in as an Impact Sub for Sanju Samson. Shimron Hetmyer managed only seven runs off eight balls at No. 8.
"Some shot selections were bad" - Aakash Chopra on RR's batting in IPL 2025 loss to KKR
![Sanju Samson was castled for an 11-ball 13 in RR's IPL 2025 loss to KKR. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/03/79771-17430501622457-1920.jpg?w=500)
While acknowledging that the Guwahati pitch was slightly spin-friendly, Aakash Chopra questioned the shot selection of some of the Rajasthan Royals batters in Wednesday's game.
"The pitch was slightly helpful for the spinners for sure, but some shot selections were bad. You can start with Yashasvi, or you can see Sanju's or Riyan Parag's shots. Dhruv Jurel still played decently, but the situation of all the others was extremely bad. 150 - that's it?" he said (12:10) in the same video.
To conclude, the cricketer-turned-commentator expressed pessimism about RR's IPL 2025 prospects.
"Kolkata's name has come in the top six with two points. How far will they go? We don't know, but I don't see RR going very far. One match after the other, more weaknesses and fewer strengths are being seen, and it's not looking good for the Rajasthan Royals," Chopra observed.
The Rajasthan Royals are placed last on the IPL 2025 points table, starting their campaign with two successive defeats. Dhruv Jurel (33 off 28) was their only batter to score more than 30 runs against the Kolkata Knight Riders.