"Did you play him as a batter?" - Aakash Chopra questions KKR's handling of Shardul Thakur in IPL 2023 loss to Gujarat Titans

Aakash Chopra has questioned the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) if they played Shardul Thakur as a pure batter in their IPL 2023 loss to the Gujarat Titans (GT).

Thakur was dismissed for a duck after being sent out to bat at No. 3 as KKR set a 180-run target for GT at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, April 29. The seam-bowling all-rounder wasn't given a single over as Hardik Pandya and Co. chased down the target with seven wickets and 13 deliveries to spare.

While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra criticized KKR for their improper utilization of Shardul Thakur and David Wiese, explaining:

"Shardul Thakur and David Wiese played in this match as batters. They didn't bowl a single over. David Wiese didn't bowl much in the last match as well. Why are you playing David Wiese if you are getting him to bat at No. 8? You sent Shardul Thakur at No. 3. Did you play him as a batter?"

The former KKR player added that the franchise played the game with virtually nine players, observing:

"You played the match with nine guys. You had runs on the board and a chance to defend, so shouldn't these two bowlers have bowled an over apiece at least? Why did you do that? It makes no sense."

Chopra highlighted that even Nitish Rana bowled an over in the end. However, he did acknowledge that the game was virtually done and dusted by then.

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"Maybe you sent him as an out-of-syllabus question" - Aakash Chopra on Shardul Thakur batting at No. 3

Shardul Thakur played a match-winning knock against RCB earlier in the tournament. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra also pointed out that Shardul Thakur's promotion in the batting order didn't make sense, reasoning:

"Maybe you sent him (Thakur) as an out-of-syllabus question although they had Venkatesh Iyer as well. When he was sent Rahmanullah Gurbaz was batting destructively. The thinking might have been that he would come and hit a lot but Gurbaz was already doing that."

The reputed commentator added:

"Venkatesh Iyer comes at No. 3 and he also does not play slowly. Shardul is not a left-hander as well, so both right-handers were there. What were you trying to do? If it had come off, imagine if he had scored runs, would the world have changed? It was beyond my understanding."

Chopra concluded by praising Vijay Shankar (51* off 24) and David Miller (32* off 18) for their match-winning partnership for the Gujarat Titans. The duo added 87 runs for the fourth wicket in just 6.3 overs to help their side register a convincing win.