"Yashasvi Jaiswal hasn't played a single good knock thus far" - Aakash Chopra on RR ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs PBKS

Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked Yashasvi Jaiswal as the Rajasthan Royals (RR) player in focus ahead of their IPL 2025 clash against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). He pointed out that the RR opener hasn't yet played a substantial knock in the tournament.

RR will lock horns with PBKS in Match 18 of IPL 2025 in Mullanpur in the evening game on Saturday, April 5. Jaiswal has aggregated a paltry 34 runs at an average of 11.33 in three innings in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener opined that Jaiswal needs to fire in RR's IPL 2025 away game against PBKS.

"The last match was a near-perfect game (for RR), although Yashasvi Jaiswal has still not scored runs. It's extremely important for runs to come from Yashasvi Jaiswal's bat as the openers need to score runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal hasn't played a single good knock thus far. So my focus will be on how Yashasvi plays," he said (15:10).

Chopra reckoned that Sanju Samson's return as captain and wicketkeeper should help his cause as a batter.

"Sanju Samson is back as a captain and a keeper, and I like that because it's not right to sit out for 20 overs and then straightaway come to bat. It's even more difficult for a keeper as he is always in the game and would have assessed the conditions quite nicely before going to bat," he observed.

Aakash Chopra added that Sanju Samson's greater captaincy experience would help him lead the Rajasthan Royals better. While acknowledging that Wanindu Hasaranga (4-0-35-4) and Jofra Archer (3-1-13-1) bowled impressive spells in RR's win against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Chopra picked the visitors' bowling as their weaker suit.

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"Don't change anything" - Aakash Chopra on PBKS ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs RR

PBKS are perched atop the IPL 2025 points table. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Reflecting on the Punjab Kings, Aakash Chopra noted that they need to continue playing with the same approach.

"The (Shreyas) Iyer and Punter (Ricky Ponting) pair are doing very well, and their performances have been incredible. Do they need to change anything? Just play like this. Don't change anything. The combination they played against LSG, I think that works best, that was leaving out Azmatullah Omarzai and playing Nehal Wadhera," he said in the same video.

The analyst added that PBKS, unlike CSK, made the requisite change in their playing combination after just one game in IPL 2025.

"They understood in one match what Chennai haven't in three matches. They played Azmatullah in the first match and realized only one of him and Marco Jansen can play. So they decided to play Marco and brought in a proper bowler. Makes sense because their Indian batting core has scored runs," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra noted that the PBKS batting has depth and could be one of the best in the tournament. He added that the hosts could consider playing Harpreet Brar alongside Yuzvendra Chahal, as there could be slightly more help for the spinners on the Mullanpur pitch.