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'He Played Slowly': Aakash Chopra 'Slams' Shikhar Dhawan For His Slow Batting Vs RCB

Aakash Chopra criticises Dhawan's slow s Aakash Chopra criticises Dhawan's slow s

Aakash Chopra criticised Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper and veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan for his poor strike-rate and slow progression at the crease during his team's important IPL 2024 clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Monday (March 25). 

The former India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) cricketer underlined Dhawan's inability to push the scoring envelope as one of the key reasons behind Punjab's loss in the thrilling clash in Bangalore against their RCB counterparts. 

While bowlers bore the brunt for Punjab's defeat as experienced wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik took RCB over the line in a chase of 177, Chopra said Dhawan's innings of 45 off 37 held PBKS back when they could've posted a more imposing total on a flat pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

Chopra Critical Of Shikhar Dhawan's Strike-Rate 

"Punjab were asked to bat first and Punjab just could not get going. Jonny Bairstow was looking good but he got out. Shikhar Dhawan played for a long time but played quite slowly, considering the circumstances. After that, a lot of people got small starts but no one was able to do the job," Chopra said on his YouTube channel. 

Dhawan's failure to kick-on despite getting well set in the middle and being out at the wrong time when he expected to provide PBKS the late flourish to their innings ultimately hurt his team since they fell way short of posting a more sizeable and befitting score for the conditions in Bangalore.

Even though the experienced left-hander top-scored for the innings, his knock of 45 came at a strike-rate of 121.62, which meant the rest of the PBKS side had to hit big from the word go and players were out playing high-risk strokes. 

Dhawan's form would be a cause of concern for the PBKS team management as he also failed in the first game against the Delhi Capitals (DC), making just 22 off 16 balls.