"He can play bouncers" - Aakash Chopra picks Shivam Dube among the 3 standout performers in CSK's IPL 2024 win vs RCB

Aakash Chopra has picked Shivam Dube among the three star performers in the IPL 2024 opener between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

RCB set CSK a 174-run target after opting to bat first in Chennai on Friday, March 22. Dube scored an unbeaten 28-ball 34 as the defending champions chased down the target with six wickets and eight deliveries to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra chose Dube as the standout performer during CSK's chase.

"In the second innings, everyone gave small, small performances, whether it was Ruturaj Gaikwad at the start, Rachin Ravindra or Daryl Mitchell, but the performance that was closest to my heart came from Shivam Dube's bat," he said (17.25).

"They were just trying to bowl bouncers against him. He can play bouncers and he has shown that by doing it repeatedly. You stopped spin as soon as he came in because Shivam Dube will hit them a lot. So his reputation came before him. The way he played the bouncers - well done, Shivam Dube," the former India opener added.

Chopra noted that Karn Sharma and Mayank Dagar were bowling well when they were taken out of the attack. He praised Dube for either leaving the short balls or playing attacking shots on both the off and leg sides, including a pulled six off Alzarri Joseph's bowling.

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"He picked up two wickets in an over twice" - Aakash Chopra lauds CSK seamer Mustafizur Rahman's spell

Mustafizur Rahman registered figures of 4/29 in four overs. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra named CSK seamer Mustafizur Rahman as one of the two standout performers from the first innings.

"The first is Mustafizur Rahman. He picked up two wickets in an over twice. When the opposing team was flying and Faf du Plessis was playing well, he picked up two wickets - first Faf and Rajat Patidar three deliveries later. Suddenly the flying team crashlanded," he reasoned (16:00).

"Then there was a consolidation once again and then he dismissed Virat Kohli and along with him Cameron Green. Both of them were batting well. So Mustafizur Rahman is that one performance for which you stand up and clap. He wasn't performing as well when he was playing in other places," the former KKR player added.

Chopra chose Anuj Rawat (48 off 25) as the star performer for RCB.

"Anuj Rawat, because of the way he batted. Anuj means younger brother but he batted like the elder brother. When it seemed like RCB were stuck at 78/5 and might not reach 125-150, he took them to 173," he elaborated.

"He hit fours and sixes and played a very mature knock. The important thing is that he is not a batter for that number. He opens and scores runs there. You are getting him to bat at a different number and he is performing," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Rawat was joined by Dinesh Karthik (38* off 26) in the middle when CSK had reduced RCB to 78/5 after 11.4 overs. The duo smashed 95 runs in the remaining 8.2 overs to take the visitors to a decent total, which wasn't enough in the end.