"What sense did it make for Riyan Parag to come in the Super Over?" - Aakash Chopra on RR ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs LSG

Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) thought process ahead of their IPL 2025 clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He expressed shock about the franchise's decision to send Riyan Parag as one of the openers in the Super Over in their loss to the Delhi Capitals (DC).

RR will host LSG in Match 36 of IPL 2025 in Jaipur in the evening game on Saturday, April 19. With four points from seven games, the hosts are placed eighth on the points table and need a few consecutive wins to keep their playoff qualification hopes alive.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener wondered whether one should have expectations from the Rajasthan Royals, considering they sent Parag in the Super Over in their IPL 2025 clash against the Delhi Capitals.

"I don't know whether one should expect anything from Rajasthan or not, because I have not yet recovered from the last match's shock. What sense did it make for Riyan Parag to come in the Super Over in that match? Rahul Dravid is sitting outside. Was it not a schoolboy error?" he said (14:30).

Chopra noted that neither of RR's top two run-getters in the main game opened in the Super Over.

"The guy who had scored the most runs and played the best was Yashasvi Jaiswal. The second-best player was Nitish Rana. You sent Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, and you sent Yashasvi after that. It doesn't make sense," he observed.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also questioned the decision to make Sandeep Sharma bowl the Super Over ahead of Jofra Archer.

"You had the option to choose between Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma. You felt you should get Sandeep Sharma to bowl, and Sandeep Sharma had bowled five wides in an over in that match. Jofra bowled the Super Over in the 2019 World Cup final, but you didn't make him bowl. I am surprised and worried about Rajasthan's thought process," Chopra elaborated.

The Rajasthan Royals scored 11/2 in the Super Over in their previous game against the Delhi Capitals, with Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal getting run out. KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs then scored the required runs off Sandeep Sharma's bowling with two deliveries to spare.

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"He will have to be mindful of the square boundaries" - Aakash Chopra on Yashasvi Jaiswal ahead of RR's IPL 2025 clash vs LSG

Yashasvi Jaiswal (233) is RR's highest run-getter in IPL 2025. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on the Rajasthan Royals' batting, Aakash Chopra opined that the Lucknow Super Giants will target Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, subject to him being fit and available, with contrasting lengths in their IPL 2025 clash.

"In the batting order, Yashasvi is playing well, but I feel he will have to be mindful of the square boundaries on this ground because they will bowl back of the length and tempt him to play the pull shot. The bowlers will bowl full to Sanju and bring the ball in," he said (15:30) in the same video.

While urging RR to get their batting order right, the analyst noted that the hosts don't have any scope to improve their bowling.

"Then Nitish Rana and Riyan Parag. Ensure the batting order is right. I won't say anything about their bowling because they cannot improve it at all. They don't have any option playing whom they can do better," Chopra observed.

Jofra Archer, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana, who have taken seven wickets apiece, are the Rajasthan Royals' highest wicket-takers in IPL 2025. Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Deshpande have accounted for five dismissals apiece, but the latter has been quite expensive, conceding an average of 11.55 runs per over.