Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra praised Rajat Patidar’s leadership after Royal Challengers Bengaluru registered a five-wicket win against Lucknow Super Giants at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Chopra highlighted that Patidar is using his bowlers with guile, and he utilised the services of Rasikh Salam Dar beautifully. The fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir returned with impressive figures of 4-24 in his quota of four overs. Salam accounted for Aiden Markram, Mukul Choudhary, Ayush Badoni and Avesh Khan.
As a result, he played an instrumental role in skittling out LSG at 146. Furthermore, Bhuvneshwar Kumar bagged 3-27 in his four overs.
“Rajat Patidar manages with only five bowlers, and he is proving to be one of the finest captains in this IPL. There are small, small opportunities. You had restricted the opposing team in the Powerplay. So, in general, you would have held back Josh Hazlewood’s overs, but he said, ‘No, I need a wicket.’ Nicholas Pooran was playing, and if he had taken a wicket there, he would have grabbed the match by the throat,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“That’s exactly what he did. Nicholas Pooran’s bad time continued. He got out, and the Josh Hazlewood move was outstanding. The number of spells in which he bowled Rasikh Salam Dar, he is using him beautifully. He picked up four wickets. Krunal Pandya, the overs he bowled, and he was once again amongst the wickets,” he added.
Chopra was impressed with the collective effort of RCB’s bowling attack and highlighted that Krunal Pandya’s wickets always come in a winning cause.
“Whenever Krunal Pandya has taken two or more wickets, his team, no matter which team he might be playing for, has won 85% matches, which means the team wins 17 out of 20 matches if he takes two or more wickets. He is that cheat code. If he takes wickets, his team wins for sure. A very collective kind of effort. Everything was near-perfect. Beautiful captaincy and terrific bowling,” he observed.
The renowned commentator praised Virat Kohli’s knock as the veteran batter scored 49 runs off just 34 balls despite injury.
“Phil Salt got out, but Virat Kohli. He had an injury in his leg, but he scored 40 runs off his first 20 balls. He totally nailed the Powerplay, that he owns this powerplay. If a guy scores 40 of the 60 runs in the Powerplay, scores 40 runs off 20 balls at a strike rate of 200, you say, ‘Well done, Virat Kohli,’” he said.
“He got out on 49 eventually, against the run of play. He couldn’t complete his half-century. He had decided after the Powerplay to forget about everything, let’s get a win, that there was no need to run fast. Even though wickets were falling, everyone was hitting. Whoever was coming was throwing their bats. That’s why some wickets fell for sure, but they won with a big, big margin,” Chopra observed.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next take on Delhi Capitals at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Saturday.
