Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra feels for Yashasvi Jaiswal after Rajasthan Royals registered a convincing 47-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad at New Chandigarh in the ongoing IPL 2026 on Wednesday.
Chopra reckons the pressure is piling on Jaiswal as all the limelight is on Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Jaiswal trudged to run a ball 29 against SRH as he could not change his gears.
On the other hand, Suryavanshi smashed a blistering knock of 97 runs off just 29 balls, including five fours and 12 sixes.
Chopra reckons Jaiswal might face trolls and would not get selected if he continues to play in a similar fashion.
“Yashasvi Jaiswal also played 29 balls, but he was going at a run-a-ball. You need to feel for Yashasvi Jaiswal because he is feeling the pressure that is not of his own making. It has been forced on him. This is how nature sometimes works. The kid at the other end is so explosive that we haven’t seen something like that to date. Then it seems like what you are doing isn’t enough,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“Then you try to hit more and get out. At times, you feel you should take a single and go to the other end. You are unable to justify whether you are doing the right thing. On top of that, you will get the trolls and won’t get selected, and then you will say things went wrong. You would figure out in the next season how to score 600 runs while playing with Vaibhav Suryavanshi,” he added.
The former Delhi cricketer praised Dhruv Jurel, who scored 50 runs off 21 balls. Chopra hailed Jurel as a wonderful stroke-maker.
“I think Dhruv Jurel’s knock was excellent. He scored 50 runs off 21 balls, which was outstanding. Wonderful stroke-maker. I think this was his sixth half-century, and he changes the tempo. He runs fast at times and slow on other occasions. He does all of that beautifully,” he said.
However, the renowned commentator questioned RR for posting 243 runs on the board after they had smashed 136 runs in the first 10 overs.
“However, I still felt 270 runs should have been scored. 136 runs had been scored in 10 overs, and one guy had gotten out. So double it at least. The second half was actually bad. The last four overs were really poor, but you scored 243 runs despite that,” Chopra observed.
RR will take on GT in the second qualifier on Friday.
