"It is a slightly flawed plan" - Aakash Chopra on Daniel Sams batting at No. 3 for Mumbai Indians vs SRH in IPL 2022

Aakash Chopra feels Mumbai Indians' supposed long-term investment in Daniel Sams as a No. 3 batter is unlikely to yield the desired results.

Sams was promoted up the order in Tuesday's (May 17) IPL 2022 game against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). However, the Australian all-rounder managed just 15 runs off 11 deliveries before being brilliantly caught by Priyam Garg off an Umran Malik bouncer.

Aakash Chopra reflected on the Mumbai Indians' chase of a 194-run target in a video shared on his YouTube channel. He said about Sams' elevation in the batting order:

"Daniel Sams was again sent at No. 3. Mumbai is having a different plan; they feel Daniel Sams is their future investment who will bowl with the new ball and bat at No. 3. In my opinion, it is a slightly flawed plan. He was playing for Shane Bond's team in the BBL; he can do well there, but he is not your gun player."

While lauding Tim David for playing a belligerent knock, the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player questioned Mumbai Indians for dropping the big-hitting Singaporean after a couple of failures earlier in the tournament. Chopra elaborated:

"It seemed the story was over but Tim David. This is another big question for Mumbai. If he was such a good player, why did he play only seven matches; why didn't he play 13 matches? He is your investment, actually he is your replacement for Kieron Pollard. He is that six-hitting machine that people will be scared of."

David smoked 46 runs off just 18 deliveries to almost snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. However, he was run out after a mix-up with Ramandeep Singh, and the five-time IPL winners went on to lose the game by just three runs.

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"They were absolutely on song" - Aakash Chopra on Mumbai Indians' opening partnership

Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma gave a blazing start to the Mumbai Indians' run chase [P/C: iplt20.com]

Speaking about the start of Mumbai Indians' innings, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan finally delivered in tandem. He explained:

"193 is a big total, and it can only be chased if you start well, and the start was good. It was Rohit Sharma or Ishan Kishan for a long time, or it was Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan were not scoring runs. This time, both of them scored runs. They were absolutely on song."

While lauding Sharma for playing an enterprising knock, the renowned commentator highlighted that Kishan fell prey to Umran Malik for being overly aggressive against the speedster. Chopra observed:

"Rohit Sharma scored 48 runs off 36 balls, with two fours and four sixes, a strike rate of 133; he was going all guns blazing till the time he did not get out. He fell prey to Washington Sundar. Ishan Kishan - just one too many, meeting fire with fire."

Sharma (48 off 36) and Kishan (43 off 34) strung together a 95-run partnership for the opening wicket in a little over ten overs. However, Mumbai Indians lost a flurry of wickets thereafter to cede the advantage to SRH, with David's late heroics falling to take them over the line.

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