Aakash Chopra slammed the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) management for dropping Finn Allen after a few dismal outings earlier in the season, following the Kiwi opener's match-winning knock against the Gujarat Titans at the Eden Gardens on Saturday, May 16.
The three-time champions amassed a massive first-innings total of 247/2 after being invited to bat first. In reply, the tourists were restricted to 218/4, despite half-centuries from Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, and Jos Buttler.
Chopra opined that
the rule should apply to all and said that Ajinkya Rahane has not played good cricket throughout the season, but still finds him in the KKR playing XI every time.
"KKR batted incredibly. Finn Allen deserves praise there, and KKR should ask themselves a question. Why did you drop him? Finn Allen has also scored a hundred. He did that later and made a 90-plus score here. You are not dropping the one you should. Why are different rules created?" he asked in a video on his YouTube channel.
Allen was dropped from the side after playing the first five matches in IPL 2026. He was replaced by Tim Seifert, who also failed to make an impact, and the opening batter was eventually brought back into the side. Since then, the youngster has been scoring runs for fun. However, Rahane has struggled throughout the campaign, only aggregating 251 runs in 12 innings, including a run-a-ball 14 on Saturday. His fellow opener, however, slammed 93 off just 35 balls.
"As soon as you lose, you say something needs to be changed, but you are unable to change a few things. For example, Ajinkya Rahane hasn't scored runs, but he has been continuosuly opening. Finn Allen wasn't scoring runs, and you dropped him immediately. The truth is that you have stuck with Ajju as well. If you had stayed with Finn, you don't know," he observed.
"He will have to find a few more gears" - Aakash Chopra on Angkrish Raghuvanshi's knock in KKR's IPL 2026 win vs GT
Angkrish Raghuvanshi played a wonderful knock of 82* off 44 balls against the Titans. However, Chopra believes that the 21-year-old will have to add a few more gears to his batting. The Mumbai batter had scored 21 runs off the first 17 balls he faced before going berserk.
"Angkrish Raghuvanshi is KKR's highest run-scorer of the tournament. He has hit his fifth half-century. He plays cricket properly. He plays solidly, but it's also true that he will have to find a few more gears, and I really hope he doesn't spoil his foundation in search of those gears," he said.
Chopra feels that Raghuvanshi is an ideal player for ODI and Test cricket. The talented youngster is the leading run-getter for KKR in IPL 2026 and has scored his runs at a strike rate of 146.53.
"The technical composure shouldn't go in search of more gears because he is a one-day and Test player. He is suited for the longer formats. He had a strike rate of 140 when he had played 30 balls, and it increased a lot after that, which is great, but this was a 240-run pitch," Chopra observed.
