"He is trusted more than Starc" - Aakash Chopra on Harshit Rana as KKR's death bowler heading into IPL 2024 clash vs RR

Aakash Chopra has noted that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) trust Harshit Rana more than Mitchell Starc as a death bowler heading into their IPL 2024 clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

The two sides will square off at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, April 16. Shreyas Iyer and company, who are placed second on the points table, can replace their opponents at the top of the standings with a win today.

In a video shared on his YouTube, Chopra chose Rana ahead of Starc as the KKR seamer in focus in Tuesday's game.

"I was thinking about going towards Mitchell Starc because he picked up three wickets in the last match, nothing in the game before that, but two in the game prior to that. However, I am thinking of going towards Harshit Rana," he said (4:30).

"If you see his last match's performance, he didn't pick up even a single wicket but he was bowling well. So I will look towards Harshit Rana because he comes and bowls well in the death overs. In fact, he is trusted more than Starc. They get Starc to bowl one over but make Harshit bowl two," the former India opener added.

Chopra picked Andre Russell as another KKR player to watch out for.

"Andre Russell will remain in focus as always. Russell's story is that there were only teams against whom he had not scored a half-century before this season. One was Hyderabad, so he destroyed Hyderabad first. So Andre Russell will be my man in focus because the second team against whom he has never scored a half-century is Rajasthan," he reasoned (3:30).

Chopra noted that Russell is very expensive with the ball but picks up wickets. The Jamaican all-rounder has smashed 115 runs at a strike rate of 212.96 in three innings and picked up six wickets in five games at an economy rate of 9.85.

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"I am going towards captain Shreyas Iyer" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's batter in focus

Shreyas Iyer has adopted a slightly conservative approach in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra named Shreyas Iyer as the Kolkata Knight Riders batter in focus in Tuesday's game.

"I am not going towards (Phil) Salt. I am not going towards Sunil Narine as well this time. I feel Trent Boult can trouble Salt a little. Nandre Burger should play in this match. It's the same story with Sunil Narine as well. Nandre Burger or Trent Boult can be a reason for his batting downfall. I am going towards captain Shreyas Iyer," he stated (2:30).

The former KKR player noted that the middle-order batter will be required to counter the Rajasthan Royals spinners.

"When quality spin will come at the other end, everyone will remember Shreyas Iyer. He scored at a run-a-ball in the last match. He has also said that he will be playing as an anchor this year. Generally, ships and not airplanes have anchors but everyone around him is F-16 and Rafale, so they can manage with him playing anchor," Chopra elaborated.

With 129 runs at a strike rate of 120.56 in five innings, Shreyas is KKR's third-highest run-getter in IPL 2024. Only Phil Salt (191) and Sunil Narine (167) have scored more runs than him for the franchise this season.