IPL 2022: Who Will Bat At No.4? - Aakash Chopra Highlights Issues With RCB's Squad After Mega Auction

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra opined that it doesn’t make any sense that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) couldn’t find a settled No.4 at the mega auction and will now be forced to play Sherfane Rutherford.

The franchise bought Faf du Plessis who is expected to open the innings with Virat Kohli. They will likely be followed by Aussie player Glenn Maxwell but the No.4 spot is the issue for them, as per Chopra.

“It’s the lower-middle order again. They’ve bought Sherfane Rutherford, if they manage to play him, it’s fine. If they don’t, it could be an issue. Faf will open with Kohli, Maxwell will come at 3; the question is who will bat at 4?”

“Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahamad, and Mahipal Lomror — these are the players you have to choose from. Does that give you confidence? I don’t think it does and that’s my problem. So you will have to play Sherfane Rutherford,” Chopra told on his YouTube video.

“Among Indian spinners, you don’t have big names” – Aakash Chopra

Chopra also believes that RCB doesn’t have a proper Indian spinner among its ranks like Yuzvendra Chahal. They do have options in Shahbaz Ahmad and Karn Sharma but finding a place for them in the XI becomes tough, especially with Wanindu Hasaranga guaranteed to play.

“At the same time, if you play Rutherford, you cannot play Wanindu Hasaranga and Josh Hazlewood together which is another problem with this team. If Hazlewood isn’t there, you have Siraj, Harshal, and Shahbaz. Among Indian spinners, you don’t have big names. You can play Karn Sharma, but you need to have Hasaranga in the XI.”

“Hazlewood and Behrendorff are fine but if you can’t play them, the bowling looks a bit weak. If you try to make your middle order robust, your bowling will hamper. If you strengthen your bowling, batting will become weak,” Chopra added.

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