"Shreyas Iyer has to score runs" - Aakash Chopra on KKR players in focus in IPL 2024 clash vs LSG

Aakash Chopra has urged Shreyas Iyer to contribute more with the bat in the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) IPL 2024 clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on Sunday, May 5.

Shreyas has aggregated 257 runs at a decent strike rate of 137.43 in 10 innings in IPL 2024. The KKR skipper managed only six runs in his side's previous game against the Mumbai Indians (MI) and will want to play a substantial knock against LSG.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra chose Phil Salt and the middle-order duo of Shreyas and Rinku Singh as the KKR batters in focus in Sunday's second game for contrasting reasons.

"Phil Salt could be one guy who could be in focus because he has played well thus far. He got out early in the last match. Shreyas Iyer has to score runs because what are you doing? Neither you nor Rinku is scoring runs. Venkatesh Iyer saved your honor in the last match, but Shreyas - runs, Rinku - runs. This is also Rinku's home," he elaborated (13:05).

The former India opener picked Sunil Narine as the KKR bowler to watch out for against LSG.

"In bowling, Narine Narine because when you will have Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis in the opposition and KL Rahul at the top, then Narine. He is an important player. So I am going towards him once again as one guy to watch out for," Chopra reasoned.

With 13 scalps in 10 games, Narine is KKR's joint-highest wicket-taker alongside Varun Chakaravarthy. The spin-bowling all-rounder bowled an excellent spell of 1/17 in four overs in KKR's home game against LSG and will want to be even more penetrative in the away fixture.

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"If he keeps scoring runs, things will look good" - Aakash Chopra on LSG's KL Rahul

KL Rahul has not been picked in India's T20 World Cup squad. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra chose KL Rahul as the first LSG player to watch out for against KKR.

"One is KL Rahul with the bat, there is no doubt about that. If he keeps scoring runs, things will look good although the (Indian) captain and selector said that they wanted to pick Rahul but he is opening the batting, so they won't be able to do so," he said (11:05).

"I am thinking that you could have picked up the phone and said - 'You are in our scheme of things, can you play at No. 4?'. I have no idea whether that communication happened or not. However, you will once again expect KL Rahul to do well," the former KKR player added.

Chopra expects Marcus Stoinis to be a crucial player for the hosts with both bat and ball.

"The second is Marcus Stoinis. They are getting him to bowl more now. They get him to bowl with the new ball as well, but I don't know whether they will get him to bowl in front of Sunil Narine. I am going with Marcus Stoinis but spin in front of him - ouch, he could get slightly stuck," he observed.

The cricketer-turned-commentator picked Mohsin Khan as the key frontline bowler for LSG in Sunday's game.

"The third player I am going with is Mohsin Khan. He has bounce and pace, and I don't think Mayank Yadav will be available now. Yash Thakur will return to this team. Mohsin Khan could be that guy who tries to trouble the opposition a little with bounce at the start and puts a little pressure," Chopra explained.

With nine scalps at an economy rate of 10.10 in seven games, Mohsin is LSG's second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2024. Only Yash Thakur (10) has accounted for more dismissals for the franchise this season.