“Venky can bat at No. 3 instead of Shreyas” - Aakash Chopra suggests tweak in KKR’s batting order to strengthen line-up in IPL 2022

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has suggested that Venkatesh Iyer could bat at No. 3 ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer in an endeavor to strengthen their batting line-up in IPL 2022.

Having started the tournament as an opener, Venkatesh was pushed into the middle order after a string of low scores. In the last match against the Gujarat Titans (GT), he came into bat at No. 6 and was dismissed for a run-a-ball 17.

Kolkata will be desperate for a win when they take on the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Previewing the match on his YouTube channel, Chopra urged Kolkata to extend their batting line-up by moving skipper Shreyas to No. 4. He explained:

“The skipper has been batting one-down, but Venky can bat at No.3 instead of Shreyas. The Kolkata captain’s two good knocks have come in losing causes, so KKR need to extend their batting.”

Shreyas scored 54 against Delhi when the sides met earlier in IPL 2022. His highest of 85 came against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Both knocks came in losing causes as Kolkata failed to chase down 200-plus totals due to a lack of support for the skipper from the middle and lower order.

Chopra praised Andre Russell for his excellent efforts with the willow but pointed out that since he is coming in to bat in the first half of the innings, the other batters are not doing their job. He elaborated:

“If Andre Russell is sent at No. 4 to boost the run rate since only two batters are out, it’s good. But he is coming in early because too many wickets have fallen too soon. This means they are in serious trouble.”

Russell, 33, has smashed 227 runs in eight matches at an average of 45.40 and a strike rate of 180.16.

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“When IPL 2022 began, had picked KKR among the top four teams” - Aakash Chopra on Kolkata’s downfall

Analyzing Kolkata’s performance in IPL 2022 so far, Chopra admitted that he has been quite surprised since he expected them to finish in the top four. Pointing out that KKR had a lot of things going for them heading into IPL 2022, he stated:

“When IPL 2022 began, had picked KKR among the top four teams. Shreyas Iyer was in gun form, Venkatesh Iyer was expected to do well. With Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, the team looked alright. But things are not looking good.”

Kolkata have lost their last four matches in IPL 2022. In their previous game against the Gujarat Titans (GT), they failed to chase 157, going down by eight runs.