“He has looked 10-15 times more effective than Chris Jordan” - Akash Chopra urges CSK to make a change in bowling department ahead of IPL 2022 match vs MI

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra wants the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to replace England pacer Chris Jordan with South Africa’s Dwaine Pretorius for their forthcoming IPL 2022 matches.

Jordan had a poor game against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, 17 April. He was hammered for 58 runs in 3.5 overs as Chennai lost a thrilling contest by three wickets.

CSK will now take on arch-rivals Mumbai Indians (MI) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday, 21 April. Previewing the match on his YouTube channel, Chopra urged Chennai to make one change in their bowling department. He stated:

“Requesting CSK to please play Dwaine Pretorius. He did well in all the matches that he played, still he got dropped. He is a slow medium-pacer but is very effective. Till now, he has looked 10-15 times more effective than Chris Jordan. Jordan’s IPL numbers are very poor, so why not just let him go.”

Pretorius claimed four wickets in two matches at an economy rate of 7.63 before being dropped from the playing XI. Jordan, by contrast, has only two wickets to his name from four games at a much higher economy of 10.52.

Shifting focus to Chennai’s batting, Chopra added that there are some positives in the department. The 44-year-old elaborated:

“Good thing for CSK is that there is form in the batting. They have Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube and Ambati Rayudu. I am expecting a lot of striking. They have the ability to put up an above par score. Against MI’s weak bowling, they will be a decent batting team.”

Shivam Dube is presently CSK’s leading run-getter in IPL 2022 with 226 runs from six matches. Robin Uthappa has also impressed with 197 runs at a strike rate of over 150.

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“They lost a match they should have won against GT” - Aakash Chopra on CSK’s defeat in previous match

The cricketer-turned-analyst opined that Chennai should have beaten Gujarat in the last match and termed the defeat a setback to their chances of reviving their IPL 2022 campaign. Chopra said:

“After the RCB win, it seemed Chennai might be able to revive themselves. There were hopes that 'Chennai Local' would become 'Chennai Express', but they derailed. They lost a match they should have won against GT. If they derail so many times, things will be tough.”

Defending a total of 169, Chennai had reduced Gujarat to 87 for five. However, David Miller (94* off 51) and Rashid Khan (40 off 21) led GT’s stunning turnaround and handed CSK their fifth defeat of the season.