"The captain is not scoring runs" - Aakash Chopra on LSG's problems ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs KKR

Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked Rishabh Pant's indifferent form as one of the Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) concerns ahead of their IPL 2025 clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He wondered whether the LSG skipper is succumbing to captaincy pressure or is just going through a lean phase.

LSG will lock horns with KKR in Match 21 of IPL 2025 in Kolkata in the afternoon game on Tuesday, April 8. Pant has aggregated a paltry 19 runs at a dismal average of 4.75 in four innings in the tournament thus far.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener noted that Pant, who is unlikely to promote himself in the batting order, needs to return to run-scoring ways.

"They (LSG) have a few more problems as compared to KKR. Firstly, the captain is not scoring runs. Is he getting suppressed under the pressure of money, or is the form not there at all? You were sitting outside in the Champions Trophy as well and hadn't played competitive cricket for a long time. When you played, you couldn't score runs," Chopra said (10:45).

"So a question will definitely be there whether something is playing in his mind. His form is a big concern. Many people have been asking whether he should open. It's too late in the day. I feel (Aiden) Markram and (Mitchell) Marsh will only open. After that, (Nicholas) Pooran will come at No. 3, and Rishabh Pant will come at No. 4 only. So that is not changing, in my opinion. However, he needs to score runs," he added.

The cricketer-turned-commentator urged Digvesh Rathi to discontinue his wicket-taking celebration that has already attracted two fines.

"From the bowling perspective, Digvesh Rathi, stop doing the signature celebration. It's better not to do it instead of paying such a big fine. I am okay with it, personally, but nothing happens because of me being okay. You shouldn't get banned because you have become this team's number one spinner at the moment. Ravi Bishnoi hasn't bowled that well thus far," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra opined that LSG's bowling is their slightly weaker link heading into their IPL 2025 clash against KKR. However, he noted that their bowlers did well in defending a 204-run target in their previous game against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Lucknow on April 4.

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"Is there a case for not opening with Sunil Narine?" - Aakash Chopra on KKR ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs LSG

Sunil Narine has opened in all three games he has played in IPL 2025. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on the Kolkata Knight Riders, Aakash Chopra wondered whether the defending champions should opt not to open with Sunil Narine in their IPL 2025 clash against the Lucknow Super Giants.

"Is there a case for not opening with Sunil Narine? You can open with (Ajinkya) Rahane. An unpopular opinion I shared earlier as well was that Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rahane are playing a lot of overs in the middle, and the explosive batters are not getting their entire batting," he said in the same video.

The analyst added that the move would allow the in-form Venkatesh Iyer to bat at No. 4.

"It's not mandatory that everyone should get to bat, but if someone has the potential to run at a strike rate of 250, give him 15-25 balls. We saw Venky Iyer playing very well last time, but Venky at No. 5 is a little too low, in my opinion. I have only spoken about removing Narine as an opener so that you can send Rahane up the order and keep Venky at No. 4," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra questioned whether KKR should stick with Moeen Ali or play either Spencer Johnson or Anrich Nortje in their IPL 2025 clash against LSG. While observing that the spin-bowling all-rounder didn't get to bowl in their 80-run win against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the same venue on April 3, he pointed out that the off-spinner could be useful against the plethora of left-handers in LSG's middle order.