"R Ashwin also helped RR win a couple of matches single-handedly" - Aakash Chopra lauds RR's all-rounded bowling attack
Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra heaped praise on the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) potent bowling attack. The inaugural winners fell short of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 title, losing the final against Gujarat Titans (GT), despite a spirited and consistent performance by their bowling unit throughout the tournament.
Yuzvendra Chahal bagged the Purple Cap for his exploits and in the process, became just the third spinner to do so in the competition. His 28 wickets over the course of the campaign helped RR go a long way. Prasidh Krishna and Trent Boult also forged a formidable pair in their first season together as well.
Praising the performances of RR bowlers in IPL 2022, Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel:
"Yuzvendra Chahal was incredible. I thought Prasidh Krishna was brilliant as well. Trent Boult was good too. R Ashwin also helped RR win a couple of matches single-handedly, one with the bat and one with the ball."
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Despite orienting towards defensive bowling with variations, Ashwin merged well with the rest of the bowling unit. He helped control the run flow in the middle overs on several occasions and also managed to achieve his best season with the bat.
The veteran all-rounder bagged 12 wickets at an economy of 7.51 runs per over. He also scored 191 runs at a strike rate of over 140.
"They can even release Mitchell and van der Dussen to gather ₹9 crore" - Aakash Chopra
Given that the campaign is over, the franchises will be on the lookout to fine-tune their squad ahead of the next auction. Teams can generate funds by releasing players back into the auction while retaining players of their choice for the same sum they spent.
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Opining that RR should look to release their bench players and go all-out for a formidable all-rounder, Aakash Chopra said:
"Navdeep Saini for ₹2.5 crore, RR did not play him and neither did they want to play him. Same with Karun Nair for ₹1.4 crore. RR thought Jimmy Neesham could be thay all-rounder for them, but he did not. There are injury and availability issues with Nathan Coulter-Nile. They can even release Mitchell and van der Dussen to gather ₹9 crore."
RR were credited for building a formidable squad in the previous auction after retaining Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
While the likes of Saini, Nair, Mitchell and van der Dussen played a handful of games, they never looked settled or in contention to cement a place in the playing XI.