Nitish Rana’s Kolkata Knight Riders will go face to face against a winless Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Thursday, April 20. Ahead of the crucial fixture for the visitors, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra suggested bringing in either Jason Roy or Litton Das in place of the struggling Afghan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
The two-time IPL champions were beaten comprehensively by the Mumbai Indians in their previous fixture, despite a swashbuckling ton from Venkatesh Iyer. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that KKR opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz needs to be dropped from the team in favour of Jason Roy or Litton Das after a series of underwhelming performances.
Gurbaz has managed just one half-century in his five outings in IPL 2023 and has been one of the weak links at the top of the order for the Kolkata-based franchise. Chopra further elaborated saying that the team has enough power-hitters in the middle order, with Venkatesh Iyer and skipper Nitish Rana also in good touch.
“The batting is looking sorted. I am now saying bye-bye to Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Bring in, Jason Roy or Litton Das. Jagadeesan can keep for you in any case. So you can keep either of them as an opener. Venkatesh Iyer is batting like a dream, so that dream may continue. Nitish Rana is looking good.
One match went bad – the last one, but he plays well and this is his home ground as well. He plays first-class cricket from here only. Then you have Rinku Singh and Andre Russell – the batting is looking good,” Chopra said in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
Kolkata have the better team: Aakash Chopra
Kolkata Knight Riders are looking to halt their two-match losing streak and the cricketer-turned-expert feels that the visitors are the favourites heading into the encounter, meaning a sixth successive loss is on the cards for David Warner’s men.
“Kolkata will be heavy favorites if they get to bowl first after winning the toss. So will Delhi lose a sixth consecutive match – chances are there because Kolkata have the better team. May the best team win,” Chopra added.