"They played extremely slow in the first 6 overs" - Aakash Chopra on Gujarat Titans' batting in IPL 2024 loss to RCB

Aakash Chopra has noted that the Gujarat Titans' (GT) pedestrian start compromised their eventual total in their IPL 2024 loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

The Titans set RCB a 201-run target in Ahmedabad on Sunday, April 28. The visitors chased the target down with nine wickets and four overs to spare to register their third win of the season.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the Gujarat Titans posted a below-par total due to their powerplay and death-over batting issues.

"They played extremely slow in the first six overs. It seemed at that stage that it was a very slow pitch, the ball wasn't coming nicely onto the bat, but you still need to score runs. You have to run a little faster but the Gujarat team didn't do that," he said (1:45).

"If you see Gujarat's start and end, you see problems on both sides. They neither ran first at the start nor at the end. So even if you play decently in the middle, it isn't enough," the former India opener added.

The Titans were decently placed at 24/1 after three overs but managed only 23 runs and lost Shubman Gill's wicket in the next four overs. The IPL 2022 champions scored only 75 runs in the last seven overs despite having eight wickets in hand, with the usually destructive David Miller consuming 19 deliveries for his unbeaten 26.

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"He is a 30-run bank" - Aakash Chopra on Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan

Sai Sudharsan scored an unbeaten 84 off 49 deliveries. [P/C: iplt20.com]

However, Aakash Chopra lauded Sai Sudharsan for continuing his consistent run for the Gujarat Titans.

"Sai Sudharsan needs to be praised. He has become the second name for consistency. There is probably only one knock in this season where he hasn't scored runs. He is a 30-run bank. He plays clean cricket and doesn't try to hit the ball hard. I love this guy. He couldn't score a century but it's fine," he elaborated (2:10).

The cricketer-turned-commentator also praised Shahrukh Khan for showcasing his destructive abilities.

"Shahrukh Khan - he changed the direction of the winds. He came completely out of syllabus from RCB's viewpoint. We had said that you should play Shahrukh. You had bought him at the auction but he was sitting outside. You were going towards Vijay Shankar and Abhinav Manohar, this kid is good, so try him at least, and when they did, he did an incredible job," Chopra observed.

Shahrukh smashed 58 runs off 30 deliveries with the help of three fours and five sixes. The Tamil Nadu right-hander and his statemate Sudharsan added 86 runs for the third wicket in just 7.3 overs after the Gujarat Titans were reduced to 45/2 at the fall of Shubman Gill's wicket.