"The truth is that the season has been extremely ordinary" - Aakash Chopra on Mumbai Indians' win over Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the Mumbai Indians' (MI) win in their final IPL 2022 game against the Delhi Capitals (DC) cannot hide their poor returns in the tournament.

Rohit Sharma's side defeated the Capitals by five wickets in Saturday's (May 21) Indian Premier League encounter. However, the five-time champions still ended last, behind the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on net run rate.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra had the following to say about the Mumbai Indians ending the tournament on a winning note:

"Mumbai Indians finished their campaign with a win. Mumbai were playing slightly for pride, they are not used to finishing here. Nothing has changed because of this win. The truth is that the season has been extremely ordinary and this win has not salved the wounds properly."

Reflecting on the Mumbai Indians' chase, the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player highlighted Rohit Sharma's travails against Khaleel Ahmed. Chopra elaborated:

"The run chase happened in an interesting fashion because they were kept on a tight leash at the start. How well was Khaleel bowling, the two overs he bowled to Rohit Sharma were perhaps the best two overs in this IPL. The bat was not hitting the ball at all, nine dot balls to Rohit Sharma, it never happens like this."

While lauding Ishan Kishan and Dewald Brevis for playing fighting knocks, Chopra pointed out that the latter could have followed the former to the pavilion in one over from Kuldeep Yadav. He observed:

"Then he got out and it seemed the game might get stuck. Dewald Brevis came and he batted well. There were some chances of getting trapped against spin and a chance was created. Two wickets could have come in one over. Ishan Kishan was already dismissed, Kuldeep Yadav had dismissed him after a good knock. He (Kishan) was brilliant."

While stating that Rishabh Pant dropped a rather easy offering, the renowned commentator added that Brevis' dismissal thereafter had given the Delhi Capitals the upper hand. Chopra explained:

"In the same over, Dewald Brevis tried to hit, the ball went up in the air. It was a very easy catch as per Rishabh Pant's standards but it got dropped. Dewald Brevis scored a few runs after that before he got out. The momentum started shifting slightly towards the opposition team."

Brevis was put down by Pant when he was on 25. The Proteas youngster added 12 runs to his tally thereafter before he was dismissed by Shardul Thakur, leaving the Mumbai Indians requiring a further 65 runs off 33 deliveries at that stage.

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"Then came a big moment" - Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant not taking a review against Mumbai Indians' Tim David

Tim David's blazing knock helped the Mumbai Indians chase down the target [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra questioned Rishabh Pant's decision not to take a review when the on-field umpire denied a caught-behind appeal on the first delivery Tim David faced. He reasoned:

"But then came a big moment. There was an outside edge, there was an appeal, if only five overs are left and you have two DRS available, then why not? Take it even if there is a 50-percent chance. Tim David's wicket, you know it's game, set and match."

While lauding David for playing a belligerent knock, the 44-year-old concluded by also questioning the Mumbai Indians for not sticking with the big-hitting Singaporean after a couple of early failures. Chopra elaborated:

"Tim David - big story for Mumbai, why didn't you play him? You bought him for eight crores but didn't play him eight matches at the start. He is a six-hitting machine. He has the power, it goes for a six even if it doesn't hit the middle of the bat. In the end, Ramandeep came and played a couple of important shots. Tilak Varma scored crucial 21 runs and Mumbai won."

David smoked 34 runs off 11 balls, a knock studded with two fours and four sixes, to all but seal the match in the Mumbai Indians' favor. After his dismissal, Ramandeep Singh completed the job with an unbeaten 13 off just six balls.

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