'What they did was beyond my understanding' - Aakash Chopra perplexed by RR's reserved batting approach against CSK

Despite the Rajasthan Royals showcasing an expansive and dynamic approach with the bat this season, their failure to get going in the entirety of their innings against the Chennai Super Kings was startling, to say the least. Their third straight loss isn't likely to dramatically alter their playoff hopes, but the fashion in which they conceded a five-wicket defeat with 10 deliveries to spare has drawn scrutiny to the team.

Cricketer-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra, was among those who shared their perspectives on the afternoon fixture held on May 12, Sunday. In a video posted on his official YouTube channel, Chopra gave his unfiltered opinion regarding the restrained strategy followed by RR, who had won the toss and batted first, which was a good toss to win considering it was an afternoon game. Visibly so, yesterday's pitch was a slow one, offering the CSK spinners a fair bit in the first innings. However, according to Chopra, the spinners not taking any wickets and the batters falling without contributing substantially to the right-arm medium pace of Simarjeet Singh, barring a couple of batters, coupled with the score reading 131/3 at the end of 19 overs didn't quite strike the right chord as far as Chopra was concerned.

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"I didn't understand this match. I will be very honest. Rajasthan won the toss and decided to bat. Since it was an afternoon game, batting first made sense. After that, you were 131/3 before the start of the 20th over. The three wickets were taken by fast bowlers and the spinners hadn't done anything. So, I am trying to understand that if this pitch was slow, the batters should have got out to spinners. That did not happen. Simarjeet (Singh) picked up wickets and no batter scored runs. If you score 131 runs in 19 overs, what you did was totally beyond my understanding," voiced Chopra on his YouTube channel. 

Chopra also pointed out southpaw Yashasvi Jaiswal's new-found struggle with the pull-shot, who was yet again dismissed after skying a mistimed pull off a hard-length delivery by Simarjeet, caught by CSK's skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad at extra-cover. He also highlighted the fact that only two overseas players were picked in the initial Playing XI (Jos Buttler and Trent Boult) and remarked that Rovman Powell would've been a better replacement for Shimron Hetmyer, who missed out due to a niggle. 

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"Yashasvi has a new problem with the pull. He is repeatedly getting out to the pull shot this season. You won the toss, batted first, your batting wasn't getting over, and you played only two overseas players. You could have played Powell, he plays big shots, if Shimron wasn't available," exclaimed Chopra.