"What you did was totally beyond my understanding" - Aakash Chopra questions Rajasthan Royals' batting approach in IPL 2024 loss to CSK

Aakash Chopra has criticized the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) batting approach in their IPL 2024 loss to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He also questioned them for fielding only two overseas players in their starting XI.

RR set CSK a 142-run target after opting to bat first in Chennai on Sunday, May 12. The hosts chased the target down with five wickets and 10 deliveries to spare to climb into third position on the points table.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra noted that the Rajasthan Royals' timid batting approach wasn't understandable.

"I didn't understand this match. I will be very honest. Rajasthan won the toss and decided to bat. Since it was an afternoon game, batting first made sense. After that, you were 131/3 before the start of the 20th over. The three wickets were taken by fast bowlers and the spinners hadn't done anything," he explained (12:55).

"So I am trying to understand that if this pitch was slow, the batters should have got out to spinners. That did not happen. Simarjeet (Singh) picked up wickets and no batter scored runs. If you score 131 runs in 19 overs, what you did was totally beyond my understanding," the former India opener added.

Chopra pointed out that the Rajasthan Royals haven't yet qualified for the playoffs, which seemed to be a formality when they had won eight of their first nine matches. While noting that the inaugural IPL champions are still primed to qualify, he added that a top-two finish is now under serious threat.

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"Yashasvi has a new problem with the pull" - Aakash Chopra on the Rajasthan Royals' indifferent batting

Yashasvi Jaiswal skied a pull shot off Simarjeet Singh's bowling. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra noted that while Yashasvi Jaiswal (24 off 21) once again succumbed to the pull shot, Jos Buttler (21 off 25) was brilliantly caught at fine leg.

"They didn't bat well right from the start. Yashasvi has a new problem with the pull. He is repeatedly getting out to the pull shot this season. Jos Buttler played a scoop shot and was caught in the deep. It was a good catch. Riyan Parag scored runs but he got a life. If Maheesh Theekshana had taken an easy catch in the deep, he too couldn't have scored the runs he did," he said (13:50).

While observing that the Rajasthan Royals innings never gathered momentum, the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that they could have played Rovman Powell if Shimron Hetmyer wasn't available.

"Sanju Samson just could not get going. Dhruv Jurel played a few shots but the innings never had any momentum and you were thinking what they had done. You won the toss, batted first, your batting wasn't getting over, and you played only two overseas players. You could have played Powell, he plays big shots, if Shimron wasn't available," Chopra stated.

Jos Butter and Trent Boult were the only two overseas players in the Rajasthan Royals' starting XI before they brought in Nandre Burger as the impact sub in the second innings. Riyan Parag (47* off 35) and Dhruv Jurel (28 off 18) were their top two run-getters and the only players with a strike rate over 115.