“I think this will be his last opportunity” - Aakash Chopra has his say on struggling GT batter in IPL 2022

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra reckons that out-of-form Gujarat Titans (GT) opener Matthew Wade might be dropped from the playing XI if he doesn’t score runs in the IPL 2022 clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday.

GT have made a brilliant start to their IPL 2022 campaign, winning three out of three matches. Wade, however, has had a torrid time with the bat. Opening the innings, he has registered scores of 30, one and six in three innings.

Analyzing the Aussie keeper-batter’s form ahead of Gujarat’s IPL match against Hyderabad at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Chopra opined on his YouTube channel:

“Matthew Wade hasn’t done anything so far. I think this will be his last opportunity. If he is not able to make an impact here, the franchise will go to Rahmanullah Gurbaz or Wriddhiman Saha. They have these two options that they can explore. Matthew Wade is running out of time.”

Wade is playing in his first IPL since the 2011 season. He won a contract on the basis of his impressive showing in the T20 World Cup for Australia last year.

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“Vijay Shankar’s injury was a blessing in disguise for GT” - Aakash Chopra

Reviewing the IPL team’s batting performance in their previous match against Punjab, Chopra termed the injury to Vijay Shankar as a blessing in disguise. He elaborated:

“Vijay Shankar’s injury was a blessing in disguise for GT. Sai Sudarshan came in for the last match and batted well.” He added, “Gujarat’s batting is standing on two pillars - Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.”

Gill scored 96 off 59 against PBKS to set up the chase of 190. Batting at No. 3, Sudarshan contributed a crucial 35 off 30 balls, while Hardik hit a quickfire 27 off 18.

Concluding his thoughts on the SRH-GT IPL 2022 match, Chopra stated that a lot will depend on the bowlers since the batting of both franchises is strictly okay. He opined:

“Gujarat, perhaps, have the best bowling line-up in IPL 2022. SRH’s bowling is also quite good. Sum of all the parts, they do the job that they are supposed to do.”

While Gujarat are currently placed third in the IPL points table 2022 with three wins from as many games, Hyderabad are eighth with one win and two losses.