Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra gave advice to Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Rishabh Pant ahead of the match against Mumbai Indians (MI). Aakash Chopra urged Rishabh Pant to think about hitting higher in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match.
The Rishabh Pant-led team will face Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday, April 27. The Delhi team is in sixth place in the table and has registered four wins in nine games. Meanwhile, the Hardik Pandya-led team is in ninth place with six points.
The Delhi-based team suffered a 29-run defeat when they last faced the Mumbai team in IPL 2024. Rishabh Pant batted at number 5 while chasing the target of 235 runs in Mumbai. The left-handed batsman scored just one run in three balls as the Capitals scored 205 runs in 20 overs.
Please decide the batting order – Aakash Chopra
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked Rishabh Pant as the key player to watch for Delhi Capitals in the upcoming match. Chopra stressed that Pant should take advantage of his recent form by batting higher in the lineup.
“My first player is Rishabh Pant. My heart cried the last time Rishabh Pant batted very deep against this team. I said he should have batted as he could have just won the game. They lost to Mumbai by a very small margin,” Chopra said.
“So I will ask Rishabh with folded hands to come and give the order. You scored 88 in the last game, and even if the conditions are still a little slower, no one will be able to play better than you. So please come up the batting order,” he added.
Rishabh Pant leads the run-scoring for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024, amassing 342 runs in nine innings at an average of 48.86 and an impressive strike rate of 161.32. He is currently ranked fourth in the Orange Cap list behind Virat Kohli, Sunil Narine and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Expect him to bowl well in this match too – Aakash Chopra
The former cricketer and commentator picked Axar Patel as the second key player for Delhi Capitals against Mumbai Indians. Chopra appreciated Patel’s batting performance in the last game. He expects Patel to bowl well in the upcoming game.
“The second player that comes to my mind is Axar Patel, who was given the order and he also batted well. I expect him to bowl well in this match too. Maybe he won’t be able to hit that high again. It doesn’t.” Even if he was able to do that, he played very well against Rashid (Khan) and Noor (Ahmed) and the opposition team doesn’t have very good spinners. Chopra further added.
Axar Patel, batting at No. 3 position, scored 66 runs off 43 balls in the last game against Gujarat Titans. The left-handed batsman smashed five boundaries and four sixes. The Rishabh Pant-led team recorded a total of 224 runs. The DC team managed to secure a narrow four-run win.
Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya IGNORED as Sourav Ganguly names two specific selections