No all-rounder has performed better than Andre Russell in IPL 2022: Nikhil Chopra

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have six wins in 13 league matches, and are at the sixth position in the IPL 2022 points table. In order to qualify for the next stage, they have to win their ongoing fixture against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by a big margin. Though KKR have been average with their performances, the Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell has scored 330 runs and picked up 17 wickets in 13 appearances. He has one of the best bowling strike rates in the season of 8.8 and the third-highest batting strike of 182.32 amongst players who have played 13 matches.

In the latest interaction, the former Indian cricketer Nikhil Chopra discussed the form of Russell in this season. He mentioned the stats of the seasoned T20 campaigner and thinks no all-rounder has performed better than Russell in the IPL 2022. Chopra further added that the mindset of the 34-year-old has been fantastic to not waste any balls, and termed him as the number one player in the T20 format.

“If you look at Russell’s stats in both departments, you will realize no all-rounder has performed better than him. Over the years, he has not wasted any bowls, which is required in this format. In this season as well, he makes sure that either a ball is out of the park or he is back to the pavilion. So, he is the number one player in the T20 format, according to my opinion,” said Chopra on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket’ Show on CricTracker.

Sunil Narine should come at the opening slot: Nikhil Chopra

Ahead of the ongoing fixture, Chopra reckoned that the spinner and a useful batter, Sunil Narine should come in the opening slot due to his ability to hit at a strike rate of 140-150, which would relieve the pressure off Venkatesh Iyer. He further added that the team has depicted instability by doing many changes at the opening slot, which has been one of the reasons for their bad performances. Meanwhile, Venkatesh opened up with debutant Abhijeet Tomar against LSG but was dismissed for a duck.

“I think in the absence of Rahane, Sunil Narine should bat at the top-order. You need somebody to take full use of the fielding restrictions, remove the pressure from the head of Venkatesh Iyer, and can play longer innings. But, certainly, they have not been able to string a good opening pair and changed it about four-five times,” said Chopra.