"I was surprised that Shreyas Iyer did not bowl Nitish Rana" - Wasim Jaffer after KKR's 3-wicket loss to RCB

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered their first loss in IPL 2022 as the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated them by three wickets in a low-scoring thriller on Wednesday.

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer reckons KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer may have missed a trick by not bowling part-time spinner Nitish Rana during the match.

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, Jaffer highlighted that Varun Chakravarthy didn't seem comfortable while bowling to left-handers in the game. He feels Shreyas Iyer could have brought in Nitish Rana to bowl for this reason when there were two left-handers (Sherfane Rutherford and Shahbaz Ahmed) at the crease.

The former India Test opener added that Andre Russell, who seemed to be struggling with his fitness, would not have had to bowl in that case. Jaffer also suggested that Venkatesh Iyer could have been introduced into the attack a little earlier.

Wasim Jaffer explained:

"I was surprised that Shreyas Iyer did not bowl Nitish Rana when there were two left-handers there and Chakravarthy was clearly struggling against them. One or two overs from Rana would have meant that Russell wouldn't have had to bowl. He could have bowled Venkatesh Iyer earlier if Russell was struggling. Things could have been a little bit different if he had saved Chakravarthy's over there and used it for right-handers."

The former cricketer lauded KKR pacers Umesh Yadav and Trent Boult for their inspiring spells in the powerplay. He claimed that Kolkata would have had a significant chance at defending the target had Chakravarthy found his rhythm.

"Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee made a match out of it by getting RCB 17/3 in the powerplay. KKR would have had a better chance if Chakravarthy had bowled better."

RCB ultimately chased down the total in the final over with three wickets and four balls to spare. Chakravarthy, who's known for bowling miserly spells, surprisingly ended up as one of the most expensive bowlers in the game for KKR. He conceded 33 runs from his full quota of four overs.

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"Varun Chakravarthy was probably scared to toss the ball in the air" - Wasim Jaffer after RCB vs KKR match

Jaffer opined that Chakravarthy was not at his best while bowling to the left-handers in the match against RCB. He felt that the spinner did not want to toss the ball, which is why he ended up bowling a lot of short-pitched deliveries.

The former Mumbai batsman added:

"It feels like Varun Chakravarthy struggles a bit bowling to the left-handers. He started bowling from around the stumps and then came over the wicket, but his length was on the shorter side. It helped the batters to pull him. He was probably scared to throw the ball in the air or in front of the batters. Had he gone for 20-25 runs or had taken a wicket at that stage, it would have been interesting."

KKR are currently placed fifth in the IPL 2022 points table. They will next be seen in action on Friday, when they lock horns with the Punjab Kings in their third league match of this year's IPL.