‘Bowling was totally exposed’ - Aakash Chopra speaks on CSK's loss in IPL 2023 curtain raiser

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that Chennai Super Kings’ bowling unit let the team down in the IPL 2023 season opener against Gujarat Titans. Notably, batting first, Ruturaj Gaikwad gave a brilliant start to the visiting team as the 26-year-old smashed 92 runs off just 50 deliveries. Courtesy of his knock, the four-time champions posted 178 runs on board after 20 overs but in the end, it wasn’t enough.

Interestingly, CSK introduced Tushar Deshpande as their impact player in the second innings of the match but the 27-year-old ended up leaking 51 runs in just 3.2 overs. On top of that, Dhoni didn’t use Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube with the ball, which raised eyebrows, especially when it is knows that the legendary skipper likes to have options in the middle.

Meanwhile, Chopra pointed this out in his latest video on his YouTube channel and stated that CSK’s bowling looks really weak at the moment. He expected that the franchise will at least use six bowlers but to his surprise, Dhoni used only five bowlers in the match.

“Chennai have a problem. The bowling was seen totally exposed. They removed Ambati Rayudu and brought in Tushar Deshpande (as Impact Player) but they had only five bowlers, which included Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja), Mitchell Santner, Tushar Deshpande, Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Deepak Chahar. Bowling is not looking good. Chennai's problem is bowling. You should have a sixth bowler when there is an Impact Player, but they didn't have a sixth bowling option. It's not a good story at all,” Chopra mentioned.

Chopra analyses Gujarat’s chase

Reflecting on Gujarat Titans’ chase, Chopra lauded Wriddhiman Saha for giving the team a perfect start. Soon after he got out, Shubman Gill started firing, while in the end, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan managed to achieve the target and handed the side a five-wicket win. 

"Wriddhiman Saha started like a rocket. When he got out, then suddenly Shubman Gill takes off. He scored a fifty. Sai Sudharsan was also playing well and everything was going fine but then Hardik Pandya and Shubman got out," Chopra said.

"Then Vijay Shankar came. Vijay Shankar played well but when he got out, it seemed the match would get stuck. How will it get stuck? This was this team's strength, they won lost matches and a new hero used to come. Here Rashid Khan comes and hits a six and a four. In the end, a six and a four from Rahul Tewatia - gone,” the cricketer-turned-commentator concluded.

Read the IPL 2023 schedule here.