IPL 2022: Aakash Chopra lauds Venkatesh Iyer's knock in KKR-MI IPL 2022 clash

Aakash Chopra has lauded Venkatesh Iyer for giving the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) a flying start in Monday's (May 9) IPL 2022 encounter against the Mumbai Indians (MI).

Iyer smashed 43 runs off 24 deliveries, a knock studded with three fours and four sixes. His innings helped the two-time champions post a fighting total of 165/9 on the board and they went on to win the match by 52 runs.

While reflecting on KKR's batting performance in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was all praise for Iyer, saying:

"The start was good. Mumbai won the toss but the way Venkatesh Iyer batted at the start, I got an opportunity to say again - Desh hai, videsh hai, characha-e-Venkatesh hai - he played extremely well. There was thrill till the time his innings was on."

However, the cricketer-turned-commentator was slightly critical of the pace of Ajinkya Rahane's knock, especially after the powerplay overs. Chopra elaborated:

"Ajinkya Rahane - there is a thing with him, T20 is not working out. As soon as the powerplay is over, he becomes extremely slow. His story becomes very difficult, it becomes tough for him to go ahead from there."

Rahane managed 25 runs off 24 balls, with the help of three boundaries. The Mumbaikar has struggled at the top of the order in IPL 2022, with his 105 runs in six matches coming at a lowly average of 17.50 and an underwhelming strike rate of 100.96.

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"He struck some extremely beautiful sixes" - Aakash Chopra on Nitish Rana's knock for KKR

Nitish Rana struck three fours and four sixes during his innings [P/C: iplt20.com]

Nitish Rana's 26-ball 43 also drew plaudits from Aakash Chopra. The latter observed:

"When he (Rahane) got out, then Nitish Rana - yesterday was Maharana Pratap Singh's birth anniversary and he did Rana Sanga's job. He batted very well, he struck some extremely beautiful sixes."

While highlighting Shreyas Iyer's issues against leg-spin bowling, the 44-year-old praised Rinku Singh for taking KKR to a reasonable score. Chopra stated:

"The way Shreyas Iyer got out, a bit of an issue, he has got out to leg-spinners a lot of times, this time it was not while hitting but he got out. Rinku kept on trying to take the team to a fighting total but I still felt that it was at least 25 runs short because 180 was possible at one point."

The 166-run target proved to be more than enough for the Mumbai Indians as they were bowled out for 113. With this win, KKR kept alive their chances of qualifying for the IPL 2022 playoffs, although they will need a lot of things to go their way to make the grade.