Rajasthan Royals (RR) secured the third position post the IPL 2024 league phase. They are gearing up to challenge Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Eliminator match slated in Ahmedabad on Wednesday May 22. In the eyes of Aakash Chopra this outcome signals a favorable turn of events for Faf du Plessis and his squad.
In a captivating faceoff at Hyderabad the SunRisers Hyderabad triumphed over the Punjab Kings to soar above RR and secure the prestigious second place in the rankings. While the Royals clash with the Kolkata Knight Riders was dampened by rain Pat Cummins and his squad maintained their position fueled by net run rate calculations.
In a video posted on his YouTube account, Chopra stated that Sunday’s results favored RCB and that they should defeat RR in the eliminator.
“It’s RCB vs RR – a royal encounter. I feel one by one everything is going in favor of RCB because Hyderabad are a dangerous team. Not that RCB can’t beat them, they have done that once at their (SRH’s) own home. However, the truth is – that day the game can go anywhere. I feel they will catch and seize the Rajasthan Royals.”
Aakash Chopra
However, the former India opener conceded that IPL history implies that RCB would struggle to win the title.
“So RCB are in a happy place playing the Eliminator. It is difficult because it is also true that in the 11-year history of the Eliminator, only once a team that finished third or fourth has won. That was 2016 – SunRisers Hyderabad.”
Aakash Chopra
Even if RCB defeats RR in the Eliminator, they will play the loser of the Qualifier 1 match between SRH and KKR in Qualifier 2. They will also have to defeat the winner of Qualifier 1 in the final to claim their first IPL trophy.
Aakash Chopra Criticizes Rajasthan Royals Performance
According to Aakash Chopra, the Rajasthan Royals have had a poor run as the IPL 2024 season comes to a close.
“The match was washed out and because of that Rajasthan lost the chance they had to reach 18 points. The truth remains that this team hasn’t won even a single match in May. Eight wins in the first nine games and after that not even one. They got four tries. People clear UPSC in four tries and they couldn’t win one match.”
Aakash Chopra
The cricketer-turned-commentator also stated that Sanju Samson and his team cannot blame the washed-out game against KKR for their inability to finish in the top two.
“You can see the one point they got in the end with two viewpoints. You can say your time was bad as a point was snatched from you or else you would have reached No. 2. The second view is that it was good you came after qualifying. Imagine if your qualification had not been confirmed and this one point had sent you out.”
Aakash Chopra
The Rajasthan Royals emerged triumphant against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru claiming a comprehensive sixwicket win in the singular leaguephase contest between the two teams during IPL 2024.
Nevertheless as the first IPL champions advance to the Eliminator they will be without Jos Buttler who notably clinched victory in the previous match with a matchwinning century.