IPL 2021: KL Rahul Will Regret That His Finish Was Not Strong Against Delhi Capitals, Says Aakash Chopra

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra said that KL Rahul will regret that he did not give a strong finish to his batting in the match against Delhi Capitals. The Punjab Kings skipper scored 61 runs off 51 balls in the match before losing his wicket to Kagiso Rabada in the 16th over. Even after hitting a half-century, KL Rahul had a comparatively poor strike rate in the match.

KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal managed a great opening stand for Punjab Kings, smashing 122 runs in 12.4 overs for the opening partnership. While Agarwal batted at a very great strike rate with 69 off 36 balls, KL Rahul scored 61 off 51 balls. Although KL Rahul smashed 7 fours and 2 sixes in his innings, he had a strike rate of only 119.61. He started a little slow from the start, reaching his fifty in 45 balls.

KL Rahul Was Required To Accelerate A Little: Aakash Chopra

While analyzing the Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals match on his Youtube video, Indian commentator Aakash Chopra said the KL Rahul was required to accelerate a little after Mayank Agarwal lost his wicket.

“When Mayank Agarwal got out, KL Rahul was required to accelerate a little, something he did in the first match. He had missed out on a century, but the acceleration was there.

“Here also the expectation was that he would hit. He did not do that, and when he looks back, he will regret a little because the finish was not strong,” said Aakash Chopra.

Chopra also said that Punjab Kings lost some crucial wickets due to which they could not score many runs in the last five overs.

“Gayle was also dismissed after that. You wanted to score 60-70 runs in the last five overs. You didn’t score those many, and because of that, you didn’t reach around 220, where you should have probably reached,” added Aakash Chopra.

Punjab Kings were 140-1 after the end of 15 overs and were expected to cross 200+ runs while batting first. However, KL Rahul (61), Chris Gayle (11), and Nicholas Pooran (9) lost their wickets in the death overs. With some quick-hitting by Deepak Hooda (22 off 13) and Shahrukh Khan (15 off 5) in the end, Punjab Kings reached 195-4 in 20 overs. However, this was far less than what was expected after Punjab Kings’ quickfire start in the match.

In response, Delhi Capitals comfortably chased down the 195-run target. With Shikhar Dhawan’s 92 off 49 balls and Prithvi Shaw‘s 32 off 17 balls, Delhi Capitals won the match by 6 wickets. Marcus Stoinis’ cameo of 27 runs off 13 balls towards the end gave Delhi Capitals an easy victory in just 18.4 overs.