Aakash Chopra has questioned the Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) team management’s decision to hold back Shimron Hetmyer in their batting order in Monday’s (May 2) IPL 2022 encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
West Indies’ batter Shimron Hetmyer, who was sent out to bat only in the 18th over, smoked an unbeaten 27 off 13 balls to help the Royals reach a score of 152/5 in their allotted 20 overs. However, their bowlers couldn’t defend the target as KKR won the match by seven wickets with five deliveries to spare.
Aakash Chopra Surprised By Rajasthan Royals Decision Of Holding Back Shimron Hetmyer Against Kolkata Knight Riders
While reviewing the Rajasthan Royals’ batting effort in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was critical of Shimron Hetmyer’s batting position.
Aakash Chopra elaborated: “The team (RR) reached 152 and only because Shimron Hetmyer came and hit a lot, 20 runs were scored in the 19th over. But why did they hold back Hetmyer? He played just 10-odd balls. God bless you if you feel that’s the right thing to do.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that Sanju Samson’s side had a chance to send Shimron Hetmyer out to bat in the 14th over.
Aakash Chopra observed: “Why do they do this? It is beyond my understanding. His batting could have come in the 14th over, you held him back, he got to bat only in the 18th over, there were not enough balls. Honestly, it seems slightly a paralysis by analysis to me.”
The Rajasthan Royals lost Karun Nair‘s wicket in the 14th over but the team opted to send Riyan Parag ahead of Shimron Hetmyer. Although Riyan Parag scored 19 runs off 12 balls, Shimron Hetmyer could have done more damage with a longer stint in the middle. His strike rate of 163.52 is the best among Rajasthan’s batters this season.
Aakash Chopra Praises Sanju Samson For Playing A Captain’s Knock
While speaking about the rest of the Rajasthan Royals’ batters, Aakash Chopra pointed out that their openers Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal failed to give them a flying start. Jos Buttler, the current Orange Cap holder with nearly 600 runs failed to accelerate and scored only 22 off 25 balls at a below-par strike rate of 88. Devdutt Padikkal also departed early scoring only 2 off 5 balls.
Aakash Chopra explained: “Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed at the start. Buttler’s bat was not striking the ball, which was actually a fact. When Buttler got out, he fell prey to Tim Southee, there was a twist in the tale.”
However, the reputed commentator lauded Sanju Samson for playing a captain’s knock.
He said: “Sanju Samson actually batted well. The captain played a captain’s knock, you can say that it was a slightly slow knock, it could have been slightly quicker but the bowling was good.”
Sanju Samson scored 54 runs off 49 deliveries, a knock studded with seven fours and one six. The Rajasthan Royals skipper revealed that wickets kept falling at the other end whenever he was looking to push the accelerator pedal.
Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in Match 47 of Tata IPL. This was the 2nd consecutive loss for RR. After the game, Sanju Samson admitted that his side was 15-20 runs short. Batting first RR scored just 152 runs, despite Shimron Hetmyer playing a cameo in the end.
He scored 27 runs off 13 balls but it wasn’t enough to put up a fighting total on the board. Skipper Sanju Samson scored a 50 but his strike rate at the end of the innings was just 110. KKR’s Nitish Rana (48*) and Rinku Singh (42*) stitched a match-winning partnership which changed the momentum of the game as KKR sealed a crucial seven-wicket win.