“You expect runs from him” - Aakash Chopra reviews PBKS skipper Mayank Agarwal’s batting performance in IPL 2022 so far

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra feels that Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Mayank Agarwal needs to score heavily for the team in IPL 2022 as he is the leader and opener as well.

Agarwal scored 32 off 24 deliveries in Punjab’s opening encounter against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He was dismissed for just one against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as the franchise succumbed to a six-wicket defeat.

According to the IPL schedule, PBKS will take on defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their third match of IPL 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. Speaking ahead of the game, Chopra said on his YouTube channel that, being senior players, Agarwal and his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan, need to take on more responsibility. He commented:

“The one issue with PBKS is Mayank Agarwal hasn’t scored runs. He is the captain and is a solid player, who has been doing consistently well for the team. He hasn’t scored a lot so far, but you expect runs from him. In the last match, Shikhar was looking alright but played a poor stroke to get out. Have hopes of a long innings from him as well.”

Discussing Punjab’s batting, Chopra added that while the line-up looks strong, Liam Livingstone needs to start living up to expectations. He opined:

“Liam Livingstone hasn’t really lived up to the billing yet. If you look at the line-up, they have Shikhar-Mayank, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who is batting like a million dollars. There is Shahrukh (Khan) as well. Jonny Bairstow is yet to come. Odean Smith is also there, so PBKS are looking strong in the batting.”

The 44-year-old advised Punjab to continue with Bhanuka Rajapaksa even if Bairstow is available for the game. He stated:

“They cannot drop Rajapaksa because he is in such great form. Bairstow can be rested if he is available as Bhanuka is batting beautifully.”

Sri Lankan batter Rajapaksa hammered 43 off 22 against RCB and followed it up with a nine-ball 31 against KKR.

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“PBKS’ bowling is not looking good” - Aakash Chopra

While Punjab look strong in the batting department, they have some issues in the bowling unit, which conceded 200-plus against RCB. According to Chopra, it could all come down to the batting efforts of the two sides as both Punjab and Chennai are poor in the bowling department. He explained:

“Their bowling is weak, no doubt about that. Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Odean Smith - PBKS’ bowling is not looking good. In fact, both CSK and PBKS are looking poor with the ball.”

Defending a total of 137, Punjab got Kolkata in trouble at 51 for four. However, Smith conceded 30 runs in the 12th over as Andre Russell went berserk. Arshdeep also had a bad game, conceding 32 runs in three overs.