"If you see Chahal's numbers after selection, you will find a slight dip" - Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals' IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 loss to SRH

Aakash Chopra has noted that Rajasthan Royals (RR) spinner Yuzvendra Chahal hasn't been at his best since his selection in India's squad for next month's T20 World Cup. The leg-spinner returned figures of 0/34 in four overs in RR's IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 loss to the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).

SRH set RR a 176-run target after being asked to bat first in Chennai on Friday, May 24. Pat Cummins and company then restricted the Royals to 139/7 to register a 36-run win and book their berth in the final against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the same venue two days later.

Reflecting on the Rajasthan Royals' bowling in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra observed that Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin didn't live up to expectations.

"It was expected that spin bowling would take a lot of wickets in this match because this is Ashwin's ground and Yuzi Chahal would also shine as the pitch had spin and Hyderabad's record against leg spin is extremely ordinary. Eight overs of spin were bowled, in which 77 runs were scored. This is crazy," he said (2:15).

"Yuzi Chahal's form has dipped a little. He bowled well in the last match against RCB but if you see Chahal's numbers after selection, you will find a slight dip. Ashwin didn't try to spin the ball much in this match. It seemed like he was bowling a little too fast. So he also leaked a lot of runs," the former India opener added.

On the flip side, Chopra praised the Rajasthan Royals seamers for delivering potent spells.

"The fast bowlers picked up wickets, whether it was Sandeep Sharma, the yorker he bowled to get Heinrich Klaasen out, Avesh Khan, who took two wickets in two balls, or Trent Boult, who had already picked up three wickets. Eight wickets fell (apart from a last-ball run-out) and all of them went to pacers," he elaborated.

Ashwin went wicketless, just like Chahal, and conceded 43 runs in his four overs. Avesh Khan (3/27), Trent Boult (3/45) and Sandeep Sharma (2/25) were the Royals' successful bowlers.

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"Yashasvi Jaiswal was finally seeing playing well" - Aakash Chopra on the Rajasthan Royals' chase

Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed 42 runs off 21 deliveries. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Reflecting on the Rajasthan Royals' chase, Aakash Chopra noted that Yashasvi Jaiswal seemed to be regaining his form before his dismissal changed the course of the game.

"The start was extremely slow. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, it wasn't enjoyable the way he batted. Pat Cummins got him out. Yashasvi Jaiswal was finally seeing playing well. He had scored a century in this season but after that, his form has also gone downwards. He scored 40 in the last match as well but wasn't that convincing," he said (5:10).

"He played well in this match. It seemed like he would go after finishing the match. Pat (Cummins) took a chance and brought a left-arm spinner in Shahbaz Ahmed. He first hit a very good reverse sweep but was then caught out in the deep, and the game turned on its head," the reputed commentator added.

Chopra observed that Shahbaz Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma ran through the Rajasthan Royals middle order, with Dhruv Jurel's fighting knock going in vain.

"Then whether it was Sanju Samson or Riyan Parag, Shahbaz was bowling from one end and Abhishek Sharma came from the other, and wickets started falling. In the end, Dhruv Jurel batted well and fought. I believe if he had played all matches at a good number and had a good season, he would have been a candidate to fly for the Indian team," he stated.

Jurel scored an unbeaten 56 off 35 deliveries with the help of seven fours and two sixes. He was the only Rajasthan Royals player apart from Jaiswal to score more than 10 runs.