"Ravichandran Ashwin will be at home totally" - Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals players to watch out for in IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 vs SRH

Aakash Chopra expects Rajasthan Royals (RR) spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to excel in familiar home conditions in his side's IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 clash against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). The two sides will square off at Chepauk in Chennai on Friday, May 24.

RR head into the game after a four-wicket win against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Ahmedabad in the Eliminator on Wednesday, May 22. On the other hand, SRH suffered an eight-wicket hammering at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the same venue a day earlier.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra picked Ashwin as the Rajasthan Royals bowler to watch out for in Friday's game.

"Win the toss and bowl first. Whoever bowls first, the scales will be tilted towards them, and there will be slight help for their spinners as well, and no one has taken more wickets than Ravichandran Ashwin at Chepauk. Ravichandran Ashwin will be at home totally. If it's a slightly turning pitch, Rajasthan's eight overs of spin could dominate the game," he reasoned (2:40).

"Although he will also have (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Trent Boult with the new ball with him, and I feel Sandeep (Sharma) will also have a big role here, I am still focusing on Ravichandran Ashwin because he is bowling well, taking wickets, and might get a chance to score runs if he is promoted while batting first," the former India opener added.

Ashwin has picked up nine wickets at an economy rate of 8.31 in 13 innings in IPL 2024. Seven of those wickets have come in the last four innings, including his best spell of 3/24 against the Delhi Capitals in Delhi on May 7.

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"My focus will be Sanju Samson" - Aakash Chopra on the Rajasthan Royals batters to watch out for

Sanju Samson is Rajasthan Royals' second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra picked Sanju Samson ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tom Kolher-Cadmore as the first Rajasthan Royals batter in focus against the SunRisers Hyderabad.

"Yashasvi, although he has played comparatively better while chasing and scored a hundred against Mumbai, hasn't looked that confident. The feet movement hasn't been as good as I and he would have liked. The dominance and surety with which he was batting against England, he hasn't batted like that here," he explained (3:35).

"So my first focus will not be on the two openers - Tom Kolher-Cadmore and Yashasvi. My focus will be Sanju Samson. He has played spin well this year otherwise, got out only once, that was against Karn Sharma in the last match. Whether they get to bat first or second, Sanju Samson must score runs. He has scored a lot of runs against this team although he got out for zero last time," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Chopra chose Riyan Parag as the other RR batter to watch out for in Qualifier 2.

"The second player is Riyan Parag, although you have the cushion of Shimron Heymyer and Rovman Powell now. Riyan Parag has had a good season. He is a mighty player and you can again focus on him on this pitch. He has been very good and played well in the last match, and if he plays well in this match as well, the scales get tilted more towards Rajasthan Royals," he said.

With 567 runs at a strike rate of 151.60 in 13 innings, Parag is the Royals' highest run-getter in IPL 2024. Samson (521) is the only other RR player to score more than 400 runs this season.