"Andre Russell's bat hasn't spoken at all till now" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's IPL 2023 clash against SRH

Aakash Chopra has highlighted that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batting has started to look good despite Andre Russell not firing with the bat in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) thus far.

The Knight Riders will face SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday, April 14. Russell, who started the tournament with a 19-ball 35 against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), was dismissed for a duck and a solitary run against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT), respectively.

While previewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that although Russell hasn't fired thus far, the other Kolkata Knight Riders batters have been among the runs. He elaborated:

"Kolkata is a team on a roll. It seems they are a team with problems. Andre Russell's bat hasn't spoken at all till now. It looks like something is lacking in batting but Rinku Singh comes one day, Venkatesh Iyer comes another day, and now Nitish Rana has also scored runs."

The former Indian opener observed that KKR, much like the Gujarat Titans, have found new heroes in every game. He added that the two-time champions would become even more formidable once Russell starts delivering the goods, saying:

"Rahmanullah Gurbaz also scored runs one day. Gujarat also do the same. When Gujarat do that, we say it is fine, so it is wrong. If he (Russell) scores runs, the team's stature will suddenly grow even further."

KKR head into their clash against SRH after registering back-to-back wins. While Shardul Thakur (68 off 29) was the main architect of their win against RCB, Rinku Singh's five consecutive sixes off the last five balls helped them snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat against GT.

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"Venky Iyer has batted well" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's probable batting order

Venkatesh Iyer smashed 83 runs off 40 balls against the Gujarat Titans. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra praised Venkatesh Iyer for his performances with the bat for KKR. However, he was unsure about his likely batting position against SRH, saying:

"Venky Iyer has batted well, played very well in two games. His batting order has been moved slightly up and down. He might continue to bat at No. 3, could open, or get pushed to No. 4."

The former KKR batter added:

"I don't know about the batting order because this team has tried a lot of openers in the last two years. This team has tried the most openers, that's a reality. But now they have started to look slightly better."

While expecting either Narayan Jagadeesan or Venkatesh to open with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Chopra wants KKR to field Anukul Roy in their XI, reasoning:

"Jagadeesan might come to open with Rahmanullah Gurbaz or Venkatesh Iyer might get a chance to open. You might see Anukul Roy in this match because the opposition team's numbers against left-arm spin are extremely ordinary. Nitish Rana's form has come back and Rinku Singh is unbelievable."

Chopra concluded by picking the Kolkata Knight Riders as the likely winners in Friday's game. He added that the home team should prepare a square turner and strangulate SRH with spin.