"Why do you play with 10 players?" - Aakash Chopra questions Nitish Rana for not bowling Shardul Thakur in KKR-PBKS IPL 2023 clash

Aakash Chopra has questioned Nitish Rana for not bowling Shardul Thakur in the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) IPL 2023 clash against the Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Shardul wasn't given the ball as PBKS set a challenging 180-run target for KKR after opting to bat first at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday, May 8. The home then scraped through to a five-wicket victory, with the winning boundary coming off the very last delivery.

While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra praised Nitish Rana for bowling 13 overs of spin but questioned him for not utilizing all his resources, saying:

"Nitish Rana bowled 13 overs of spin, which was a very good thing he did. Harshit Rana's pace, that was also very good. The captaincy is of a different level this year. Why do you play with 10 players? That's entirely beyond my understanding."

The former Indian opener pointed out that Shardul Thakur neither bowled nor faced a delivery, observing:

"You played Shardul Thakur but didn't get him to bowl a single delivery. When he came for batting, he came only to run because he was at the non-striker's end. He is the bowler who is going to bowl for India in WTC in a Test match."

Chopra added that the seam-bowling all-rounder could have been used instead of either Vaibhav Arora or Harshit Rana, elaborating:

"He bowled in the last match and picked up a wicket. It is not that Vaibhav Arora didn't get hit or he couldn't have been given overs in place of Harshit Rana. It could have been done but you didn't."

Arora went wicketless and conceded 32 runs in his three-over spell. Rana picked up two wickets but went for 33 runs in his three overs. The inexperienced seamers ended up conceding 36 runs in the last two overs of the Punjab Kings' innings.

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"He has been pigeonholed as a finisher" - Aakash Chopra questions Shahrukh Khan's batting position for the Punjab Kings

Shahrukh Khan was sent out to bat at No. 8. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra also criticized the Punjab Kings for not using Shahrukh Khan effectively, explaining:

"Shikhar Dhawan's fifty - well done. Although it was a slightly anchoring role, it was alright. I didn't understand why they didn't send Shahrukh Khan. He has been pigeonholed as a finisher, that his contract will be canceled if he is given more than 10 balls."

Rishi Dhawan was promoted ahead of Shahrukh in Monday's game. The latter got to face only eight deliveries in the end, smashing an unbeaten 21 with the help of three fours and a six.