IPL 2022: Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja not firing for Chennai Super Kings

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the pressure of captaincy is probably taking a toll on Ravindra Jadeja's performances for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2022.

Jadeja endured a rather poor day on the field in last night's Indian Premier League encounter against the Mumbai Indians (MI). The CSK skipper went wicketless with the ball, dropped a couple of catches and scored just three runs off eight deliveries.

While reviewing the Chennai Super Kings' performance in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was slightly concerned with Jadeja's returns. He elaborated:

"Ravindra Jadeja proved very expensive. His bat is not striking the ball at all, he is dropping catches, he is not getting wickets. I mean the captaincy pressure is probably showing a little. It is clear that Jaddu is struggling slightly."

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player was also slightly critical of Jadeja's handling of his bowling resources. Chopra explained:

"Mukesh Choudhary didn't bowl his full quota of overs and that was surprising because he had taken three wickets in three overs, get him to bowl the fourth over now at least. Dwaine Pretorius bowled just two overs. It was a bizarre kind of bowling display, on how the overs were distributed."

The Chennai Super Kings probably let the Mumbai Indians slightly off the hook by allowing them to post 155 runs on the board after Rohit Sharma's side were reduced to a score of 47/4 in the eighth over.

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"What is happening?" - Aakash Chopra on Ruturaj Gaikwad's first-ball duck for the Chennai Super Kings

Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed off the very first delivery of CSK's innings [P/C: iplt20.com]

Speaking about the Chennai Super Kings' run chase, Aakash Chopra highlighted that they got off to a disastrous start. He observed:

"Ruturaj Gaikwad first-ball duck, what is happening, why so many people are scoring ducks. There is no doubt that there was some life on the pitch. Mitchell Santner was an exact like-for-like replacement for Moeen Ali, he batted at No. 3 and a left-arm off-spinner instead of a right-arm off-spinner in Moeen Ali."

The renowned cricketer added that wickets falling at regular intervals set the Chennai Super Kings back after a decent partnership between Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu. Chopra said:

"When Santner got out, there was excitement in the game. Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu played quite well. Hrithik Shokeen bowls four overs for 23 runs and no one tried to hit him. I was a little surprised why actually nobody went after him. After that, wickets kept on falling. Shivam Dube got out, Ishan Kishan took a very good catch."

Chopra concluded by stating that Dwaine Pretorius deserves almost as much credit as MS Dhoni for taking the Chennai Super Kings across the finish line. He reasoned:

"Dwaine Pretorius - 22 runs off 14 balls, we all will talk about MS Dhoni but if he had not hit the two boundaries off Bumrah's over, the job was not going to be done. Dwaine Pretorius was an equally important protagonist and then MS Dhoni's class is different."

Pretorius struck two crucial fours in the penultimate over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. Although the South African all-rounder was dismissed off the first ball of the final over, MS Dhoni gave the finishing touches to the Chennai Super Kings' run chase.