IPL 2024: Aakash Chopra says RR acquired Avesh Khan to resolve their death-bowling issues

Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) bought Avesh Khan ahead of the IPL 2024 auction to resolve their death-bowling issues as well. The Royals traded in Avesh and gave Devdutt Padikkal in return to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) before the auction as well. They spent ₹14.30 crore to buy five more players at the auction as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “They had released Devdutt Padikkal and got Avesh Khan in place of him. So they tried to cover the fast-bowling problem at the death. They now have Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult and Avesh Khan. Yuzi (Yuzvendra) Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin and Adam Zampa – so their bowling resources are totally ready. Jason Holder wasn’t able to do that job and Obed McCoy also couldn’t do it.”

However, Jason Holder picked up only four wickets and had a poor economy rate of 9.96 in the eight matches he played for RR in IPL 2023. Obed McCoy also went wicketless and gave away 13 runs in the only over he bowled last season. However, Aakash Chopra believes Nandre Burger is another good seam-bowling acquisition for the Rajasthan Royals as well.

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However, the Royals bought Burger for his base price of ₹50 lakh at the IPL 2024 auction. Meanwhile, they bought Rovman Powell for ₹7.40 crore and Shubham Dubey for ₹5.80 crore as well alongside Tom Kohler-Cadmore (₹40 lakh) and Abid Mushtaq (₹20 lakh).

“On a given day, they can play Nandre Burger in place of Trent Boult if they want. I like Nandre Burger as a bowler. He bowls at a speed of 145-146 kph. He is a good bowler. They have taken Nandre Burger and two or three good Indian players,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “Overall, they went with a small purse to the auction. I feel Rajasthan had a good auction. They didn’t need too many things. They came away with first-choice players. At times, you aren’t able to get your first-choice players. Gujarat (Titans) is an example. Their (RR’s) auction strategy was quite robust.”