Rassie van der Dussen was dismissed cheaply during the Rajasthan Royals innings [P/C: iplt20.com]
Aakash Chopra feels Rassie van der Dussen will have to start making substantial contributions with the bat for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) if he doesn’t want to be dropped from their playing XI.
Van der Dussen scored just six runs off 10 deliveries in last night’s IPL 2022 clash between the Royals and the Gujarat Titans (GT). The South African batter managed a mere four runs in his only previous outing in the current edition of the Indian Premier League.
Aakash Chopra reflected on the Rajasthan Royals’ run chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel. He said the following about Van der Dussen:
“Rassie – it has been two innings now. There will be a bigger contribution expected from you because we had dropped a Yashasvi Jaiswal-named player after he had gotten out in two or three matches. So if he was dropped, the same can be done with you as well.”
The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player was taken aback by the Royals’ decision to send Ravichandran Ashwin to bat at No. 3. Chopra elaborated:
“When RR gets to bat, Jos Buttler was hitting but Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed for a duck. After that, Ravichandran Ashwin comes to bat at No. 3 with so many batters in the side. Again an interesting decision by the Rajasthan Royals, they keep on doing different things.”
Ashwin, to everyone’s surprise, walked out to bat when RR lost their first wicket in the form of Devdutt Padikkal in the second over of their innings. The veteran off-spinner scored a run-a-ball eight before falling prey to Lockie Ferguson.
“Jos Buttler was playing like a boss” – Aakash Chopra on the bright spark in the Rajasthan Royals innings
Jos Buttler smoked 54 runs off just 24 balls [P/C: iplt20.com]
Aakash Chopra was full of praise for the enterprising knock played by Jos Buttler. The England keeper-batter smashed 54 runs off just 24 balls with the aid of eight fours and three sixes before being dismissed by Ferguson. The cricketer-turned-pundit observed:
“But Jos (Buttler) was playing like a boss. How well he batted, this batter had scored 54 runs when the score was 64. He bats amazingly well, plays behind and straight as well. He hits three fours in an over as well, puts a lot of pressure on the new bowler Yash Dayal and even hits the big bowlers, he doesn’t spare anyone.”
The renowned commentator concluded by stating that barring Shimron Hetmyer to an extent, none of the other Rajasthan Royals batters could offer much resistance to the Titans bowlers. Chopra explained:
“It required Lockie Ferguson, he dismissed Ashwin and Buttler in the same over. It was very difficult to come out from there, whether it was Shimron Hetmyer, Rassie van der Dussen, Jimmy Neesham or Riyan Parag. All of them tried to play small roles, Shimron Hetmyer was the best among them.”
Hetmyer, who has been in scintillating form in IPL 2022, smashed 29 runs off 17 deliveries. Apart from Buttler and Hetmyer, none of the Rajasthan Royals players had a strike rate of even 115.
