IPL 2021: Aakash Chopra feels Mumbai Indians don't have to change anything but their approach

Aakash Chopra believes the Mumbai Indians (MI) need to tweak their approach slightly to emerge triumphant in their IPL 2021 encounter against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday.

The Mumbai Indians have suffered middle-order batting collapses in all four of their encounters in Chennai thus far. However, they still managed to register a couple of wins, with their bowlers bailing them out.

While previewing the MI-PBKS encounter in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Rohit Sharma-led side need to alter their game plan a little rather than looking for any personnel changes.

"The Mumbai Indians don't have to change anything but their approach. It is okay till now that you have won two out of your four matches and Punjab has won one out of four. But if both stand on two wins after five encounters, it means there is hardly anything to choose between the two. Till now, you are thinking that you will recover, there is still time but time will change very quickly," said Chopra.

The reputed commentator wants the Mumbai Indians' top-order to mellow down a little and expects better performances from Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya.

"The Pandya brothers have to perform. If they score runs with the bat, the team will do well. The top order will have to taper down a little on how to bat till the end. I see Jayant Yadav playing here as well because the opposition has two-three left-handers," added Aakash Chopra.

Hardik and Krunal Pandya have scored just 61 runs between them in the combined eight knocks they have played in IPL 2021 so far. The Mumbai Indians will hope the duo fire and help them finish their Chennai leg on a winning note.

Time to finish our Chennai leg on a high 💙We take on the Punjab Kings tonight 💪#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #PBKSvMI #IPL2021 @ImRo45 @KieronPollard55 @surya_14kumar pic.twitter.com/CMNhiEDXsU

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 23, 2021

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Aakash Chopra on Punjab Kings' possible playing XI changes

Aakash Chopra wants the Punjab Kings to field Ravi Bishnoi [P/C: KXIP.in]

Aakash Chopra feels the Punjab Kings can consider playing Dawid Malan to strengthen their batting.

"The Punjab Kings can think about playing Dawid Malan. It is a thought they can entertain because Nicholas Pooran is not scoring the runs currently. He is a good player, I won't drop him," said Chopra.

The 43-year-old wants the Punjab Kings to play both their leg-spinners, Murugan Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi, with Deepak Hooda being another spin-bowling option.

"If you have Mayank, Rahul, Gayle, Dawid Malan, Nicholas Pooran, Hooda and then Shahrukh, your batting becomes quite long and you have Hooda as a bowler. You should play Murugan Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi," added Aakash Chopra.

Ravi Bishnoi - who was Punjab's trump card in previous seasonDawid Malan - number 1 batman in T20 format. But no chances for both of them yet,Dear @PunjabKingsIPL its time to have a proper look at your squad..@IPL #ravibishnoi @dmalan29 pic.twitter.com/uAwQemBKiW

— Vinaya (@ItsVK77) April 22, 2021

Aakash Chopra suggested the Punjab Kings could even go with three foreign players or could play Moises Henriques instead of Arshdeep Singh.

"If you want you can play with just three overseas. I was calculating if Moises Henriques can be fit in. You can do that by playing him instead of Arshdeep and get him to bowl with the new ball. It will not make a huge difference as this pitch does not help the fast bowlers. The bowling becomes a little weak but that is something you may want to figure out," concluded Chopra.

The Punjab Kings made wholesale changes for their last encounter against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, which was their first match at Chepauk. It will be interesting to see their approach this time around, considering that their batting failed to fire and they were handed a nine-wicket drubbing in that encounter.

Friday night’s gonna be a 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐓 🎆🍿#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #IPL2021 #PBKSvMI pic.twitter.com/JdOCY6JLfx

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 23, 2021