"I did not understand the batting order at all" - Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals' loss to Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022

Aakash Chopra has questioned the batting order adopted by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) during their loss to the Delhi Capitals (DC) in Wednesday's (May 11) IPL 2022 encounter.

The Royals, who were without the services of Shimron Hetmyer, opted to send Ravichandran Ashwin at No. 3 and demoted their skipper Sanju Samson to No. 5. Although the veteran off-spinner did score a half-century, the Royals could only set a slightly below-par 161-run target, which was chased down easily by the Capitals.

While reviewing the RR-DC clash in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was critical of the Rajasthan Royals batting order. He said:

"Rajasthan had to make a change and the change was exactly what we had discussed, that you bring in Rassie van der Dussen and they did that only. But I did not understand the batting order at all because who does like that?"

Speaking about the Rajasthan Royals' batting effort, the former India cricketer pointed out that neither of their openers could play a substantial knock. Chopra elaborated:

"Jos (Buttler) was dismissed, Chetan Sakariya got him out. There was some help from the pitch, there was something in it for the faster bowlers and he took the right advantage of that. After that, Yashasvi Jaiswal was trying, was fighting, but there were only 19 runs from 19 balls. Mitchell Marsh ended his troubles in the end."

Buttler, who managed just seven runs, hit a pitched-up delivery from Chetan Sakariya straight to Shardul Thakur at mid-on. Yashasvi Jaiswal pulled a short-pitched delivery from Mitchell Marsh straight down the deep midwicket fielder's throat.

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"He played as a pinch-hitter in the powerplay and then became a pinch-anchor" - Aakash Chopra on R Ashwin's knock for Rajasthan Royals

R Ashwin scored his maiden half-century in T20 cricket [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that R Ashwin failed to maintain the momentum after the powerplay overs. He observed:

"Ravichandran Ashwin came as a pinch-hitter, he played as a pinch-hitter in the powerplay and then became a pinch-anchor because he was trying to play very slowly after that, maybe the pitch was tacky, the ball was not coming onto the bat. In the end, he just accelerated at the right time, a good knock."

While lauding Devdutt Padikkal's knock, the reputed commentator criticized Sanju Samson's batting position for the Rajasthan Royals. Chopra explained:

"Devdutt Padikkal scored 48 runs, they were important because they came in just 30 balls, actually Padikkal was good. But Sanju Samson came to bat at No. 5, you held back your good player. Paralysis by analysis, Rajasthan got stuck and because of that, only 160 were scored. Perhaps it could have been enough but it wasn't to be."

The Delhi Capitals chased down the 161-run target with eight wickets and 11 balls to spare. The Rajasthan Royals, who are currently placed third in the IPL points table 2022 with 14 points to their credit, might have to win both their remaining matches to guarantee themselves a IPL playoff spot.