Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has praised Rajat Patidar for his leadership in the RCB IPL 2026 match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He also shared that the RCB captain used his bowlers effectively, stating that Rasikh Salam Dar was used beautifully. Rasikh registered figures of 4/24 in four overs as RCB bundled out LSG for 146. RCB then achieved the target with 5 wickets and 29 balls in hand as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Rajat Patidar manages with only five bowlers, and he is proving to be one of the finest captains in this IPL. There are small, small opportunities. You had restricted the opposing team in the Powerplay. So, in general, you would have held back Josh Hazlewood’s overs, but he said, ‘No, I need a wicket.’ Nicholas Pooran was playing, and if he had taken a wicket there, he would have grabbed the match by the throat.”
“That’s exactly what he did. Nicholas Pooran’s bad time continued. He got out, and the Josh Hazlewood move was outstanding. The number of spells in which he bowled Rasikh Salam Dar, he is using him beautifully. He picked up four wickets. Krunal Pandya, the overs he bowled, and he was once again amongst the wickets,” he further stated.
“Whenever Krunal Pandya has taken two or more wickets, his team, no matter which team he might be playing for, has won 85% matches, which means the team wins 17 out of 20 matches if he takes two or more wickets. He is that cheat code. If he takes wickets, his team wins for sure. A very collective kind of effort. Everything was near-perfect. Beautiful captaincy and terrific bowling,” he again shared.
While talking about RCB’s chase in the same video, Aakash Chopra also applauded Virat Kohli for giving his team a flying start as well.
“Phil Salt got out, but Virat Kohli. He had an injury in his leg, but he scored 40 runs off his first 20 balls. He totally nailed the Powerplay, that he owns this powerplay. If a guy scores 40 of the 60 runs in the Powerplay, scores 40 runs off 20 balls at a strike rate of 200, you say, ‘Well done, Virat Kohli,'” he shared.
“He got out on 49 eventually, against the run of play. He couldn’t complete his half-century. He had decided after the Powerplay to forget about everything, let’s get a win, that there was no need to run fast. Even though wickets were falling, everyone was hitting. Whoever was coming was throwing their bats. That’s why some wickets fell for sure, but they won with a big, big margin,” HE concluded.
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