“Ravindra Jadeja’s bat has been absolutely silent” - Aakash Chopra urges CSK skipper to rise to the challenge in IPL 2022

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra reckons that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will find it extremely difficult to make an impact in IPL 2022 unless skipper Ravindra Jadeja lifts his game.

The 33-year-old has had a torrid time with both the bat and ball, having taken over as captain from MS Dhoni for the ongoing IPL season. The all-rounder has registered scores of 26*, 17, 0 and 23 in the team’s four matches so far. With his left-arm spin, he has managed a solitary wicket at an economy rate of 7.77.

Chennai will be up against a rampant Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday. Previewing the match on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Jadeja has to lift his game, saying:

“Ravindra Jadeja’s bat has been absolutely silent. If he doesn’t score runs, the team will not go a long way. With the ball, Jaddu has done well against (Glenn) Maxwell, so could get him again. He needs to have a great game.”

On how Chennai could try and upset RCB, the 44-year-old added that form players must make an impact, but admitted that the task seems like a very tough one. He elaborated:

“Shivam Dube is batting well, but he is still coming down the order. MS Dhoni is also in some form, but he also doesn’t like to come up the order. If someone like Maheesh Theekshana claims 2-3 quickly, they can somehow hope of winning. But things are not looking good.”

Dube was out for just three against SRH. Before that, he had scored 57 and 49. Theekshana did not claim a wicket against Hyderabad, but conceded only 31 runs in his four overs.

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“Uthappa started well but his form has fizzled out” - Aakash Chopra on CSK’s batting woes

One of the big reasons for CSK's IPL win last season was their prolific batting, particularly the opening partnership of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis. Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa have failed to match up to the standards for the team this season.

Analyzing CSK's batting issues, Chopra said:

“Unless Ruturaj Gaikwad scores runs, Chennai won’t win. Robin Uthappa started well but his form has fizzled out since then. Moeen Ali has been batting well. He likes the ball coming on to the bat. He’s an experienced player, though, and finds ways to score.”

The 44-year-old opined that that the experienced Ambati Rayudu has also let the team down. Chopra stated:

“Ambati Rayudu hasn’t really come to the party yet. He has given glimpses of good knocks, but that big innings hasn’t come from him yet.”

While Uthappa has scored 106 runs from four IPL 2022 games, Rayudu has scored 82 and Gaikwad a mere 18.