IPL 2022: Aakash Chopra on Sanju Samson's knock during Rajasthan Royals' loss to Gujarat Titans

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Sanju Samson's propensity to play one shot too many led to his dismissal during the Rajasthan Royals (RR) batting effort against the Gujarat Titans (GT).

Samson smashed 47 runs off just 26 balls before he holed out to Alzarri Joseph at long-on off Sai Kishore's bowling. The Royals went on to set a 189-run target for the Titans, but it was chased down by Hardik Pandya's side with seven wickets and three deliveries to spare to qualify for the IPL 2022 final.

While reflecting on the Rajasthan Royals innings in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra highlighted that Samson fell prey to his ultra-attacking approach after getting off to a blazing start. He elaborated:

"Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed by Yash Dayal. But after that, Sanju Samson with Jos Buttler. Sanju came riding a horse which could fly. He opened his account with a six, who plays like that? When Sanju plays like this, it seems batting is very easy. But then he got out, one too many is the story of Sanju Samson."

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player lauded Jos Buttler for shifting gears as his innings progressed. Chopra explained:

"Jos Buttler was playing with 37 runs off 37 balls at the other end. He was struggling but said that he won't get out, kept standing till the end - 'things will change if I give time for time to change'. It was that incredibly beautiful Jos Buttler knock, eventually he got a strike rate of 160 but he didn't run like that at the start."

Buttler was slightly subdued at the start as he scored 39 runs off the first 38 deliveries he faced. However, he smoked 50 runs off the next 18 balls he played to help the Rajasthan Royals set a challenging target for the Titans.

The detailed IPL 2022 schedule are available here.

"Ravichandran Ashwin should have bowled a little slower" - Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals' bowling effort

Ravichandran Ashwin conceded 40 runs in his four overs [P/C: iplt20.com]

Speaking about the Rajasthan Royals' defense of the 189-run target, Aakash Chopra was slightly critical of Ravichandran Ashwin's conservative approach. He said:

"I felt Ravichandran Ashwin should have bowled a little slower, it was required to bowl wicket-taking balls because it was not going to work out by being economical and he didn't remain economical, he was also hit for 40 runs in four overs."

The commentator concluded by stating that Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal going wicketless put paid to Rajasthan Royals' hopes of winning the game. Chopra observed:

"I think this is the second time in this tournament that the spinners have gone wicketless - Yuzi Chahal and Ashwin - the best spin attack in this tournament. If they draw a blank and concede 72 runs in eight overs, then it's game over, there is no chance that you can come back although Obed McCoy's 19th over put life in the match for some time."

Obed McCoy conceded just seven runs in the penultimate over when the Titans required 23 runs off 12 balls. However, David Miller smoked Prasidh Krishna's first three deliveries of the final over for sixes to hand a defeat to the Rajasthan Royals.