The Men in Blue set a mammoth 350-run target for the Kiwis after opting to bat first in Hyderabad on Wednesday, January 18. Michael Bracewell’s blazing 140 brought the equation down to 13 required off the last five balls with one wicket in hand before Thakur trapped him plumb in front of the wickets to help the hosts register a narrow 12-run win.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra lauded Thakur for bouncing back brilliantly after having bowled two bad deliveries to seal India’s win, elaborating:
While acknowledging that Thakur was slightly expensive, Chopra praised the seam-bowling all-rounder for striking the telling blow, saying:
Thakur was played ahead of Umran Malik to add a little depth to the batting. Although he was run out after scoring three runs following a mix-up with Shubman Gill, he picked up the crucial wicket of Finn Allen apart from the game-clinching scalp of Bracewell.
“It has become just Mohammed Siraj things these days” - Aakash Chopra
Chopra also showered praise on Mohammed Siraj for continuing his wicket-taking spree, stating:
While observing that Hardik Pandya was quite expensive, the cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the batting all-rounder picked up the crucial wicket of Lockie Ferguson in the 49th over, saying:
Chopra reckons Kuldeep Yadav could have been given his full quota of overs. The left-arm wrist-spinner registered figures of 2/43 in the eight overs he bowled.
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