"Venkatesh Iyer has not looked the same player" - Aakash Chopra says KKR's batting approach against RCB was a little confusing

Aakash Chopra has said that he was slightly perplexed by the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) batting approach during Wednesday's IPL 2022 encounter against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

KKR were bowled out for just 128 runs after being asked to bat first by RCB skipper Faf du Plessis. Although their bowlers tried to make a fight out of it, the meager total proved insufficient in the end as RCB chased down the target with three wickets in hand and four deliveries to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra reflected on the Kolkata Knight Riders' batting effort. He said the following about Venkatesh Iyer:

"The way KKR batted, it left all of us a little befuddled because they were expected to bat better than that. Venkatesh Iyer just did not look the part. There have been two innings now and he has not looked the same player."

The former India cricketer reckons Ajinkya Rahane and Nitish Rana's haste led to their dismissals. Chopra explained:

"Ajinkya Rahane played well in the last match, he was playing well here as well but one shot too many, that's been happening with him. Nitish Rana also played a big shot while playing well, give yourself a little more time, take the game a little forward and things change."

Rahane and Rana were both dismissed while playing the pull shot. While the former offered an easy catch to the deep backward square fielder off Mohammed Siraj's bowling, the latter was brilliantly caught by David Willey off Akash Deep.

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"You can't throw away your wicket" - Aakash Chopra on KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer's dismissal

Shreyas Iyer holed out to long-on off Wanindu Hasaranga's bowling [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra picked Shreyas Iyer's dismissal by Wanindu Hasaranga as the pivotal moment of the encounter. He elaborated:

"According to me, the biggest game-changing moment was Shreyas Iyer. There was a fielder in the deep, you were batting well, the bat was striking the ball nicely. You can't throw away your wicket."

The reputed commentator was also critical of KKR for making Andre Russell bat at the No. 8 position. Chopra stated:

"After that, they kept pushing Andre Russell down the order. Show a little faith in his ability. He made runs but who was there at the other end, bowlers were batting with him."

Russell walked out to bat when KKR were down in the dumps, with their score reading 67/6 at the end of the ninth over. He did smash 25 runs off just 18 deliveries, but it was not enough to take the two-time champions to a defendable score.