Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra criticised Sunrisers Hyderabad’s planning after they suffered a six-wicket loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Saturday.
Chopra said the Orange Army should have used Liam Livingstone as an Impact Player. Sunrisers Hyderabad played with three overseas players and could have used the English all-rounder as the 12th player.
Furthermore, Chopra questioned Ishan Kishan’s captaincy after the wicket-keeper bowled Nitish Kumar Reddy with the new ball ahead of David Payne, who is known to swing the ball in the Powerplay overs.
Chopra said RCB were brilliant in the field as Phil Salt took three catches, including a blinder to dismiss Ishan Kishan.
“What catches did they take? You look at Phil Salt, and you say, Wow. If Ishan Kishan’s catch had not been taken, he would have added 20-25 more runs, which means 225 would have been scored. The catching was excellent, but at the same time, Hyderabad’s planning that they wouldn’t get Liam Livingstone,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“I was a little disappointed. Why wouldn’t you bring him? You were waiting because you needed David Payne. You needed both Payne and Eshan Malinga, but Payne swings the ball, and you didn’t give him the new ball. You made Nitish Kumar Reddy bowl two overs with the new ball,” he added.
On the other hand, Chopra praised RCB’s new ball bowlers for bowling a short length in the Powerplay overs.
“What planning and execution, that’s the headline story for me. When they took Jacob Duffy, they needed someone like Josh Hazlewood. There is no one else like Josh Hazlewood. So they said they need a tall bowler who hits the deck hard and gets a little extra bounce. In fact, everyone bowled short in the first six overs. No one bowled full,” he said.
The renowned commentator praised Jacob Duffy, who returned with impressive figures of 3-22 in his quota of four overs and was awarded Player of the Match.
“He picked up three wickets and bowled four continuous overs. Jacob Duffy was absolutely outstanding. There was talk about a hole remaining. Hole is an English word, whole is also an English word, and the RCB team looked wholesome. In my opinion, planning was impeccable and execution was even better,” Chopra observed.
RCB will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on April 5.
