IPL 2022: Aakash Chopra says the Gujarat Titans' bowling lacked sharpness against SRH

Aakash Chopra has highlighted that the Gujarat Titans (GT) bowling did not have the usual sharpness during last night's IPL 2022 encounter against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

The Titans, who were asked to bat first, set a reasonable 163-run target for SRH. However, their bowlers were found slightly wanting as Kane Williamson's side registered a comprehensive eight-wicket win.

While reflecting on the Gujarat Titans' bowling effort, Aakash Chopra pointed out that none of their bowlers had a great day. He elaborated:

"This match went in a different fashion. I am saying that because you have a hypothesis that this team's bowling is good but nothing like that happened. Rashid Khan got just one wicket against his old team and Hardik Pandya got one wicket. Lockie Ferguson - nearly 50 runs in his four overs. I didn't expect that. Mohammed Shami - bowls really well but remained wicketless in this match. You expect a lot more from Rashid Khan but here that too did not happen."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the Gujarat Titans bowlers failed to strike early blows. Chopra explained:

"Till now, Gujarat Titans were taking two to four wickets in the powerplay and this time they could take two wickets in the entire match. It seemed the excellent bowling suddenly did not have the sharpness. They took out the sword but it seemed it was rusted."

The Titans had picked up nine wickets in the powerplay in their last three encounters. However, they had to wait until the ninth over for a breakthrough against SRH, with Williamson and Abhishek Sharma stitching together a 64-run partnership.

Catch the latest IPL live score here on Sportskeeda!

"I believed the openers will not score runs" - Aakash Chopra on the Gujarat Titans' bowling might

Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma negated the threat of the new ball [P/C: iplt20.com]

While lauding the SRH openers for keeping the Titans' new-ball bowlers at bay, Aakash Chopra observed that Williamson could have been dismissed in the very first over. He said:

"I believed the openers will not score runs because no one had scored runs against them. Kane Williamson was out in the first over itself, he was hit right in front of the wickets. He would have been given out if they had taken the DRS."

The 44-year-old was particularly appreciative of Abhishek Sharma for playing the aggressor's role during his partnership with Williamson. Chopra explained:

"Abhishek Sharma batted well, luck was slightly in his favor, it was quite an interesting kind of innings. He scored more than 40 runs and took his team to a safe position. In fact, Kane Williamson was playing at run-a-ball till then. It means Abhishek Sharma allowed him to do that."

Aakash Chopra concluded by stating that the loss was a slight reality check for the Gujarat Titans. He reasoned that Hardik Pandya's side would have realized that they can't rely on their bowling to deliver the goods every time and that the batters will have to perform better.