“Kane has also not scored but he hasn’t moved down the order” - Aakash Chopra hails ‘selfless’ PBKS skipper Mayank Agarwal

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra has praised Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Mayank Agarwal for putting the team before himself and giving up the opening position in IPL 2022. Admitting that Agarwal hasn’t scored too many runs, he pointed out that Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Kane Williamson has also been struggling but continues to open.

Agarwal has pushed himself into the Punjab middle order to allow Jonny Bairstow to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan. The move has paid rich dividends as the Englishman has hammered 56 and 66 in the franchise’s last two matches.

Bairstow will be hoping to complete a hat-trick of fifties when Punjab face the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Monday. Previewing the match on his YouTube channel, Chopra hailed ‘team man’ Agarwal. He stated:

“Mayank Agarwal is a selfless cricketer. Yes, he has not scored runs. Having said that, Kane has also not scored runs but he hasn’t moved down the order. There are other captains as well who are not scoring but are not going down the order but Mayank has done. He has given up his spot. I think he will score runs in this game. He is too good a player to miss out for too long.”

Agarwal, 31, has scored 195 runs in 11 matches at an average of 19.50 and a strike rate of 126.62. As for SRH skipper Williamson, he has 208 runs from 12 games at an average of 18.91 and an abysmal strike rate of 92.86.

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“It was a perfect game” - Aakash Chopra on PBKS’ win over RCB

Punjab will head into Monday’s match high on confidence, having defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 54 runs in their last game. Impressed with the team’s effort, Chopra commented:

“PBKS played very good cricket in the last match. It was a perfect game and an absolutely stellar performance. Jonny Bairstow came in and went berserk. Liam Livingstone was also sent in at the right time and he scored runs. He should not be held back.”

Batting first against RCB, PBKS posted 209 for nine as Bairstow smashed 66 off 29 balls. Promoted to No. 4, Livingstone hammered 70 in 42 deliveries. In response, Bangalore were held to 155 for nine.