Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra questioned Kolkata Knight Riders’ playing combination after they suffered a two-wicket loss against Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in the ongoing IPL 2025 on Wednesday.
Chopra shared his surprise that KKR didn’t play Anrich Nortje despite their fast bowling woes and decided to back spin all-rounder Moeen Ali in the final XI.
Ali conceded 23 runs in the two overs he bowled against CSK and bagged a wicket of Devon Conway. But the England batter didn’t get a chance to bat in the first innings.
While Moeen Ali has bagged six wickets in as many matches this season, Nortje has played a solitary game in which he scalped one wicket.
“You are playing with weak fast bowling. You are getting Moeen Ali to bowl. He even got Devon Conway out, but you got him to bowl only two overs. You didn’t have the courage to bring him into the attack again because Dewald Brevis would hit sixes as Riyan Parag had done that,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Meanwhile, Vaibhav Arora was taken to the cleaners by Dewald Brevis as the South African smashed the fast bowler for 30 runs in an over.
“If that was playing on your mind, Nortje should have played. If Nortje had played, he would have bowled the over you gave to Vaibhav (Arora). So I feel Kolkata made a strategic mistake there,” he added.
KKR’s campaign is hanging on by a thin thread and they would need to win their remaining two matches to stay in contention for the last four. Chopra, the former KKR batter, said the defending champions are struck.
“We know this team (CSK) is not going anywhere, but what about Kolkata? Kolkata are stuck because they can reach only till 15 points, and three teams have already reached 15 points. Punjab, Gujarat and RCB have reached there,” he said.
“They are already there, and Mumbai are standing on 14 and Delhi are standing on 13. So it has become difficult now. They were the defending champions for sure, but couldn’t manage the batting order properly. They couldn’t do anything properly. All but over. Outside chance, but I feel it won’t happen this time,” Chopra observed.
Kolkata Knight Riders will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Saturday.
