"Kohli used to be in his shadow" - Aakash Chopra picks Rajat Patidar as the biggest surprise package for RCB in IPL 2022

Aakash Chopra has picked Rajat Patidar as the biggest surprise package for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2022.

Patidar smashed 333 runs at an excellent average of 55.50 and an equally impressive strike rate of 152.75 in seven innings for RCB in IPL 2022. He rose to the occasion in crunch encounters, scoring a century and a half-century in the Eliminator and Qualifier 2, respectively.

While reflecting on RCB's season in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked Rajat Patidar as the player who performed way beyond expectations. He explained:

"Rajat Patidar was the biggest surprise package - 333 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 152. He was a surprise for everyone, probably even for himself. Whenever he has played, he has played with a strike rate of 152. He used to play with Kohli and Kohli used to be in his shadow and not once but many times."

The cricketer-turned-commentator was particularly appreciative of the knock Patidar played in the eliminator game against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Chopra observed:

"The knock he played in the eliminator, that's the knock of the season for me, no one can play a better knock than that because there was pressure, the team was struggling, all the main players were dismissed."

Patidar smoked an unbeaten 112 off just 54 balls to help RCB beat LSG by 14 runs. He played a 58-run knock in Qualifier 2 as well but it ended up in a losing cause.

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"Dinesh Karthik was that surprise package" - Aakash Chopra lauds RCB wicketkeeper's performances as a finisher

Dinesh Karthik played a few blazing knocks in IPL 2022 [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra named Dinesh Karthik as the other RCB player who exceeded expectations. He reasoned:

"Dinesh Karthik was that surprise package. I personally felt that he has not been playing that regularly, doing broadcasting as well, plays a little for Tamil Nadu, he is not in the scheme of things for the main circuit."

The former India opener was all praise for Karthik for proving his critics wrong. Chopra said:

"But the sort of season he had, 330 runs at a strike rate of 183. Dinesh Karthik - thank you very much my friend for proving me wrong. What a finisher's role he played, I think that was absolutely gun."

Karthik has earned a Team India call-up for the T20I series against South Africa due to his exploits as a finisher in IPL 2022. The 37-year-old, who was part of India's 2007 T20 World Cup-winning squad, wants to help the team win another world title in the shortest format of the game later this year.