‘He is playing, but he isn’t scoring runs’ – Aakash Chopra voices concerns over star player’s form ahead of GT vs RCB

Aakash Chopra and RCB team (Source Pankaj Nangia/Getty Image)

Aakash Chopra believes that all-rounder Jacob Bethell would be under a bit of pressure heading into Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) upcoming clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Thursday, April 30, as he hasn’t registered big scores so far this season.

Bethell played the last two games for the Royal Challengers, with Phil Salt being sidelined due to an injury. The former has registered scores of 14 (10) and 20 (11) in the two games. Chopra mentioned that while RCB don’t have to make any change in their lineup, the fans and team management will want Bethell to fire on all cylinders.

“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.

Chopra said that the defending champions do not have much clarity about Romario Shepherd’s role in the team because he is giving away a lot of runs with the ball and not getting too many chances to showcase his batting skills.

“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

The former India opener said that Gujarat has two problems. One is their overreliance on the top-three batters – Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler. Another is the lack of runs coming in the last four overs of the innings.

“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.

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