Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned the captaincy and team selection in the IPL 2026 clash between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Delhi Capitals (DC). He wondered why DC played four fast bowlers in conditions that weren’t seamer-friendly.
RCB set DC a 176-run target after being asked to bat first in the 26th game of IPL 2026 in Bengaluru on Saturday, April 18. The visitors achieved the target with six wickets and a ball to spare to register their third win in five games.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter opined that DC should have played Vipraj Nigam in place of a fast bowler.
“Delhi made a mistake first. Who plays four fast bowlers on a dry pitch in an afternoon match? Vipraj Nigam is sitting outside, but you are not playing him. You decided to go with four fast bowlers. I understand Auqib Dar can bat, but four fast bowlers aren’t required. That was the first mistake,” he said.
“Second mistake – Axar Patel bowled beautifully, I think he bowled the best in that team, but he didn’t bowl four overs. He didn’t come to bowl in the Powerplay. You dismissed a left-hander in Devdutt Padikkal and Tim David. So why didn’t you bowl in the Powerplay? Who bowls six overs of pace in the Powerplay? That is a big question,” he observed.
In the same video, Aakash Chopra questioned Rajat Patidar for not giving Bhuvneshwar Kumar an additional over in the Powerplay in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2026 clash against the Delhi Capitals.
“Patidar sahab, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had dismissed three batters in one-and-a-half overs. Pathum Nissanka, Karun Nair, and Sameer Rizvi had been dismissed. You had broken their back. If you had bowled him one more over there, and had KL Rahul gotten out there, you would have gone home after winning the match in the 17th over. You said you would give two overs apiece to three fast bowlers,” he said.
“Why do you need to distribute? We have praised you so much. Distributing overs like that is not required at times. You gave an extra over to Josh Hazlewood that day, and Nicholas Pooran had gotten out. Shubman Gill had also bowled his fast bowlers three overs apiece yesterday (Friday). When you have grabbed someone, you need to squeeze them. That was a mistake Rajat Patidar made,” Chopra observed.
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