Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has picked Ravichandran Aswhin as the player to watch out for in the second qualifier between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Chopra said Ashwin will be at home totally as he will play at his home ground of MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Ashwin has all the experience and he would look to make the most of the known conditions. Furthermore, the veteran off-spinner was at his best in the Eliminator contest against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Ashwin returned with impressive figures of 2-19 in his quota of four overs as he accounted for Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell.
“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,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“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.
The renowned commentator picked Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson as a batter to watch out for. Samson has scored 521 runs in 14 matches at an average of 52.10 and a strike rate of 155.52 in IPL 2024.
“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.
“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.
RR will take on SRH at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday.
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