The cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra, while talking about Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) loss against Gujarat Titans (GT), said that the KL Rahul-led side made a tactical error in the match by giving an extra over to the leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, which led to Dushmantha Chameera bowling only 3 overs.
The 7th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will be played between KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Ravindra Jadeja-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday, March 31.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra talked about the upcoming Indian Premier League battle between the Giants and the Kings and said that the KL Rahul-led side need to fix the mistakes that they made in the match against Gujarat Titans in order to achieve a better result against CSK.
“The biggest mistake in the previous game was a simple one. I am not talking about Hooda’s over. He got an extra over, I can understand since he had taken a wicket. The issue was with giving Ravi Bishnoi the over at the end.
“Heading into the last four overs, they had two from (Dushmantha) Chameera and two from Avesh Khan left. There was no need to bowl a spinner. Chameera could not bowl his last over, that’s where they lost the game. It is important to get these things right,” he said.
Lucknow have an issue with the bowling – Aakash Chopra
The former Indian opener feels that the bowling department of the Lucknow Super Giants is weak.
“I feel Lucknow have an issue with the bowling. They have Avesh Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi. But after that, they are thinking who could bowl the remaining overs. They have Krunal Pandya but, basically, they are trying and stitching pieces together, which is not an easy thing to do,” he asserted.
Aakash Chopra added that the captaincy of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja have been 50-50 in the tournament but Rahul has a bigger task ahead of himself as Jadeja has got Dhoni on his side.
“Captaincy has been 50-50 for LSG, but that could be the case with Chennai as well since (Ravindra) Jadeja is also a new skipper. But Jadeja has Dhoni on his side. Rahul will have to figure out on his own who needs to bowl how many overs and when,” he further said.
‘CSK’s Calculation is Going Wrong’: Gavaskar Lashes Out at Shivam Dube, Says ‘He Hasn’t Learnt Anything’
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Shivam Dube starred with the bat in hand on Thursday with a brilliant 49 off 30 deliveries in Mumbai. He toyed with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bowlers, smashing 5 boundaries and 2 sixes during his stint at the crease. His heroics, followed by Robin Uthappa’s fifty, helped the defending champions set a mammoth 211-run target.
Everything seemed to be going perfect for Dube until he was handed the ball in the penultimate over of LSG’s stiff chase. With 34 required off 12 balls, the CSK leadership showed faith on the all-rounder and brought him into the attack. It was his first and only over in the game and what followed next was no less than a nightmare for the 28-year-old cricketer.
Ewin Lewis and Ayush Badoni belted him for 25 runs, taking the game far away from CSK’s reach. Dube’s over changed the course of the game upside down.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar wasn’t impressed with Dube’s bowling. While commentating on Star Sports, the batting great said the all-rounder chose the wrong length to bowl against the LSG batters.
“He has played a fair bit of limited-overs cricket and he is still bowling those length balls. He is going to get punished. Of course, it’s not fair that somebody who has not bowled so far is given the 19th over when the batsmen are looking to play the shots. But look at it… it’s a length ball. He is bowling the slower delivery but a slower delivery is very useful on a turning, dry pitch. Not on a pitch where the ball is coming off the bat quite nicely,” Gavaskar said.
“Clearly, CSK’s calculation as far as who should be bowling is going wrong. A length ball and a nice easy swing on this lovely batting pitch. He clearly hasn’t learnt anything, Shivam Dube. A quicker ball but length ball this time and it has gone the distance. The first ball went for a six, and then he was smashed for a boundary. Then again, a boundary and then the last ball going to a six – 25 runs,” he said.
With two straight losses, CSK are now placed 8th on the points table with a negative net run rate of -0.528. They will face Punjab Kings in their next encounter on April 3 at the same venue.
