"What shot was he playing?" - Aakash Chopra on Nitish Rana's dismissal in KKR's innings vs RCB

Aakash Chopra has questioned Nitish Rana's shot selection that led to his dismissal in the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) IPL 2023 clash against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Kolkata on Thursday, April 6.

The KKR skipper played an ungainly reverse sweep off Michael Bracewell's bowling and was caught by Dinesh Karthik behind the wickets after having scored just a solitary run. However, the home side went on to set a mammoth 205-run target for RCB and eventually registered a comprehensive 81-run win.

Reflecting on the Kolkata Knight Riders innings in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that they lost three quick wickets before Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rinku Singh stitched together a 42-run partnership for the fourth wicket, observing:

"KKR didn't start well. David Willey was playing in place of Reece Topley. Willey picked up two wickets off consecutive balls and suddenly you start thinking what is Mandeep Singh's role in this team. Venkatesh Iyer came to open this time and got out."

The former Indian opener added:

"After that Nitish Rana - what shot was he playing? He was trying to be Rana Sanga. He also got out. He was dismissed off Michael Bracewell's bowling. Then there was a partnership between Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rinku Singh. Rahmanullah Gurbaz played well - scored 57 runs."

Venkatesh Iyer was castled by David Willey for a seven-ball three after a 26-run opening-wicket partnership with Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The left-arm seamer bowled Mandeep Singh off the very next delivery and Nitish Rana was dismissed soon thereafter.

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"He has been very good for the team" - Aakash Chopra lauds Rinku Singh's performances for KKR

Rinku Singh played a responsible knock against RCB. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra praised Rinku Singh (46 off 33) for repaying the faith KKR put in him, elaborating:

"This team has invested a lot in Rinku Singh and he has done well to be very honest. He has actually done alright. He does not perform badly. He runs around while fielding and plays good knocks. If we see the last two years, he has been very good for the team."

The former KKR player concluded by lauding Shardul Thakur (68 off 29) for taking his side to an improbable total in Rinku's company, saying:

"Rinku Singh's 46-run knock was outstanding but what could he have done alone because Andre Russell came and went. He was trying to hit a six off the first ball and got out. Then comes Shardul. He just took the attack to the opposition. He played extremely well and Kolkata reached 204, a score they had no chance of reaching."

Shardul joined Rinku in the middle when KKR were reduced to 89/5 in the 12th over. The duo added 103 runs in just 7.3 overs to change the complexion of the game.