"Neither is Chennai Super Kings' batting firing nor is their bowling looking sharp" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad

Aakash Chopra has said that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been hit hard in IPL 2022 due to their misfiring batting lineup and ineffective bowling attack.

CSK suffered an eight-wicket defeat in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday. This was their fourth consecutive loss, and they currently occupy last spot in the IPL 2022 points table.

While reviewing the CSK-SRH encounter in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted that Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa were dismissed before they could play a substantial knock. He observed:

"Neither is Chennai's batting firing nor is their bowling looking sharp. Chennai lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Ruturaj Gaikwad was looking good but got out again. Robin Uthappa was there with him - he was also looking good but he got out as well.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player added that a few middling knocks had taken CSK to a competitive score. Chopra elaborated:

"The game moved forward at an extremely slow pace in which Moeen Ali scores some runs, Ambati Rayudu scores a few runs, Shivam Dube got out as soon as he came in, Jadeja scores a few runs and you reached a fighting total."

Moeen Ali top-scored for the Chennai Super Kings with a 48-run effort off 35 balls. Ambati Rayudu (27) and skipper Ravindra Jadeja (23) were the other CSK batters to cross the 20-run mark.

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"Nothing like that happened" - Aakash Chopra on the Chennai Super Kings bowlers failing to pick up early wickets

Abhishek Sharma played a match-winning knock for the Sunrisers Hyderabad [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Chennai Super Kings bowlers could not strike the much-required early blows. He said:

"The Hyderabad bowling was extremely incisive. Washington Sundar has been very good. He picked up two wickets. When you are stopped to a low total, the expectation is that you will do some magic and pick up wickets with the new ball. Nothing like that happened."

While lauding Abhishek Sharma's efforts with the bat for SRH, the renowned commentator highlighted that none of the Chennai Super Kings bowlers created an impact. Chopra stated:

"Abhishek Sharma was absolutely sensational. You had played Theeksana but he was not allowed to be effective. You can bowl Mukesh Choudhary, Dwayne Bravo, Jordan, Moeen Ali or Jadeja - none of them made an impression."

Aakash Chopra concluded by saying that the Chennai Super Kings are overly dependent on Ruturaj Gaikwad and the currently unavailable Deepak Chahar. He explained:

"The truth is that CSK and MI have been extremely underwhelming till now. Both teams' auction was fifty-fifty. One had done a reunion but the reunion has not worked because the players do not play anything else apart from this tournament. The situation is out of control if Ruturaj Gaikwad doesn't score runs and Deepak Chahar got injured."

Gaikwad, last year's Orange Cap winner, has managed a total of just 18 runs in the four innings he has played in IPL 2022 thus far. Chahar's absence due to injury has dealt a huge blow to the Chennai Super Kings and they will hope that the swing bowler is back in action at the earliest.