"Riley Meredith will be a better option" - Aakash Chopra wants Mumbai Indians to play Aussie seamer ahead of Chris Jordan in Qualifier 2 vs GT

Aakash Chopra wants the Mumbai Indians (MI) to play Riley Meredith ahead of Chris Jordan in their IPL 2023 Qualifier 2 clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT).

The two teams will square off at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, May 26. Jordan has picked up only three wickets and has conceded an average of 10.05 runs per over in the five matches he has played in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League.

While previewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Meredith would be a better option than Jordan. However, he did acknowledge that the England seamer gave a better account of himself in the Eliminator against the Lucknow Super Giants, observing:

"There is no doubt that there are problems in bowling but they are managing. They are continuing to play Chris Jordan. I am saying Riley Meredith will be a better option, play him but Chris Jordan is playing. He bowled a maiden over in the last match - incredible, and dismissed Kyle Mayers - super incredible."

The former Indian opener expects Jason Behrendorff and Akash Madhwal to shine with the ball for the Mumbai Indians. However, he reckons Piyush Chawla will be under pressure to do an encore of his performances against the Gujarat Titans in the league phase, elaborating:

"I feel Jason Behrendorff will be extremely valuable with the new ball in the second innings. Akash Madhwal is doing an amazing job in any case. Piyush Chawla picked up two wickets both times he played against this team. There will be pressure on him as well."

Chawla, with 21 scalps, is the Mumbai Indians' highest wicket-taker in IPL 2023. Behrendorff and Madhwal have picked up 14 and 13 wickets respectively, with the latter accounting for nine dismissals in MI's last two games.

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"Rohit Sharma's numbers haven't been very flattering" - Aakash Chopra on the Mumbai Indians batting

Rohit Sharna has averaged 21.60 in IPL 2023. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra named Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan as slight concerns in the Mumbai Indians' batting department, explaining:

"They are now a team that is bulldozing the opposition. What are the problems? Rohit Sharma's numbers haven't been very flattering. Ishan Kishan has been 50-50 on this ground or against this team. His performances have not been very sparkling and it will swing as well if he gets to bat at night."

However, the reputed commentator pointed out that the Mumbai Indians have a formidable batting lineup overall, observing:

"Then Cameron Green at No. 3, Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4, Tilak Varma at No. 5, then comes Tim David, and after that Nehal Wadhera if required. This batting has a lot of might and that is why Gujarat should play another bowler is what I feel."

Suryakumar Yadav (544), Ishan Kishan (454) and Cameron Green (422) have been MI's top run-getters in IPL 2023. Tilak Varma, Tim David and Nehal Wadhera have also played crucial knocks in crunch situations and bailed their team out of trouble multiple times.