"The team becomes half when Sanju isn't there" - Aakash Chopra on RR ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs RCB

Former India player Aakash Chopra has highlighted the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) batting issues heading into their IPL 2025 clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He opined that Sanju Samson's unavailability has compounded their problems.

RR will lock horns with RCB in Match 42 of IPL 2025 in Bengaluru on Thursday, April 24. Samson hasn't yet recovered from the abdominal injury he sustained in RR's Super Over loss to the Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 16 and hasn't traveled with the team to Bengaluru.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener reckoned that Samson's absence would adversely impact the Rajasthan Royals' batting significantly.

"It's a royal encounter - RCB vs RR. Both are 'Royal' teams. The Royal teams' simple story is that one does not have Sanju. The team becomes half when Sanju isn't there. The batting is not working in any case. Although Vaibhav Suryavanshi played well, will he keep hitting like that always?" he said (5:50).

Chopra pointed out that the other RR batters haven't been able to take their team over the line in the last couple of games.

"Dhruv Jurel is unable to finish matches. Shimron Hetmyer, the only overseas batter, is unable to finish matches. Yashasvi (Jaiswal) scores runs but gets out at the wrong time. Riyan Parag bats decently but doesn't finish the match. So, overall, batting has been a struggle, and without Sanju Samson, they will struggle even more," he observed.

The Rajasthan Royals have suffered narrow defeats in their last two IPL 2025 games. While they lost to the Delhi Capitals in a Super Over, they were handed a two-run defeat by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their last game on April 19.

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"Sandeep Sharma has gone for a lot of runs now" - Aakash Chopra on RR's bowling issues ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs RCB

Sandeep Sharma has an economy rate of 9.92 in IPL 2025. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on the Rajasthan Royals' bowling, Aakash Chopra noted that Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Deshpande have proved expensive lately.

"The bowling is not good in any case. Let's be fair, Jofra (Archer) is good, but Sandeep Sharma has gone for a lot of runs now. Tushar Deshpande is slightly on the expensive side. (Maheesh) Theekshana and (Wanindu) Hasaranga, that's it, your bowling is over. So a lot of might is not being seen in this team," he said (6:25) in the same video.

All the Rajasthan Royals' frontline bowlers have an economy rate of more than nine runs per over in IPL 2025. They haven't been too potent either, with Wanindu Hasaranga, who has picked up nine scalps in six games, being their highest wicket-taker.