IPL 2022: Aakash Chopra on Lucknow Super Giants' run chase against Rajasthan Royals

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Trent Boult's early strikes set the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) back in their run chase in last night's IPL 2022 encounter against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Boult rattled KL Rahul's stumps with a big in-swinger from the round-the-wicket angle. He then went back over the wicket to trap the promoted Krishnappa Gowtham plumb in front of the wickets.

While reflecting on the Lucknow Super Giants' run chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted that Boult put paid to their hopes of getting off to a good start. He elaborated:

"You needed an explosive start. Trent Boult gave 440 Volt shocks. KL Rahul was dismissed off the first ball. He was dismissed for a duck in the last match he played on this ground, it was Shami there and here it was Trent Boult. The ball hit his stumps, outstanding ball."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Gowtham and Jason Holder also following Rahul to the pavilion was a further setback to the Lucknow Super Giants. Chopra observed:

"After that, Krishnappa Gowtham. Why he came, I don't know. He was also dismissed for a duck. And then Holder comes, Lucknow's batting order was beyond my understanding. Holder also came and got out, hit the ball straight up in the air."

Holder managed just eight runs off 14 deliveries before skying an attempted pull off Prasidh Krishna's bowling. His dismissal reduced the Lucknow Super Giants to a score of 14/3 in the fourth over, thereby needing a gigantic effort to overhaul the 166-run target.

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"We were all thinking where is Marcus Stoinis" - Aakash Chopra on the Lucknow Super Giants' batting order

Marcus Stoinis' late assault could not take LSG across the finish line [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra was stunned by the Lucknow Super Giants' decision to promote both Gowtham and Holder while pushing Marcus Stoinis down the order. He said:

"The wickets were falling regularly. You were trying to make some sense of it. Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Badoni - all of them came and we were all thinking where is Marcus Stoinis. You have kept him in the team but why are you not making him bat."

While acknowledging that Stoinis tried his best, the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player lauded Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Sen's efforts with the ball. Chopra explained:

"By the time he got to bat, Yuzi (Chahal) had picked up wickets. Yuzi actually ended up taking as many as four. Kuldeep in the morning and Yuzi in the evening, so it was basically Kulcha's day. Stoinis kept the game alive but Kuldeep Sen - outstanding over."

Aakash Chopra concluded by stating that the Lucknow Super Giants have only themselves to blame for their loss. He reasoned that their batting order didn't make any sense.