Aakash Chopra believes that all-rounder Jacob Bethell would be under pressure ahead of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) match against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Thursday, April 30, because he has not scored many runs this season.
With Phil Salt sidelined by an injury, Bethell participated in the Royal Challengers’ last two games. In the two games, the former has scored 14 (10) and 20 (11). Although RCB doesn’t need to alter their lineup, Chopra stated that the team’s management and supporters will want Bethell to play at his best.
“Don’t change anything, although there will be slight pressure on Jacob Bethell because some time back, Alastair Cook was asking him to return if he was not being played. He is playing, but he isn’t scoring runs. He is playing cameos. That’s not good enough. So that is one thing they would want to change,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
According to Chopra, Romario Shepherd is giving up a lot of runs with the ball and not having enough opportunities to show off his batting prowess, therefore the reigning champions are unsure about his place in the team.
“They still don’t know what Romario Shepherd’s role is because he gets hit a lot when he comes to bowl, and he is not getting to bat at all. This is another incredible part that all teams are playing with 12, they are playing with 11, and are winning despite that,” he observed.
Aakash Chopra mentions two issues with the Gujarat Titans
Gujarat has two issues, according to the former India opener. One is their excessive dependence on the top three hitters: Jos Buttler, Shubman Gill, and Sai Sudharsan. The absence of runs in the final four overs of the innings is another.
“GT, you have two issues. It includes your dependency on the top three, which will remain. You cannot do anything about that. Sai Sudharsan scored runs that day (away game against RCB) and needs to score runs today as well, or else Shubman Gill or Jos Buttler should score runs,” he said.
“Your problem is that you don’t score runs in the last four overs. The highest you have scored is 42. If 42 is a team’s highest in the last four overs, it means you have a problem. You will have to address that problem. How will you progress if you don’t address that?” Chopra observed.
