The Royal Challengers Bengaluru team started the season on a surprising note and has maintained promising form in this season of the competition as they have maintained their second place in the points table. Such has been his dominance that his run rate is growing exponentially this season.

The Gujarat Titans, on the other hand, maintain an exclusive rivalry with the defending champions. They have managed to win half of their games and lose the other half after having played eight games in the season. The Titans lost the last time they faced RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Aakash Chopra, the former Indian cricketer, recently highlighted the flaws contained in the RCB and GT XI so far in this edition of the IPL and suggested that these could be the concerns affecting their play in the crucial clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

That’s not enough: Aakash Chopra points out England star’s unconvincing form

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has raised serious concerns over Jacob Bethell’s batting form for RCB at the top of the order. The England star replaced Phil Salt at the top of RCB’s batting order, just as Salt was beginning to gain form, but was unlucky to be ruled out with an injury.

With scores of 14 and 20 in the two games, he had starts but failed to turn them into big ones. Chopra believes that he has not been able to meet the group’s expectations.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra stated that Bethell, despite having opportunities, has not been successful in recent times.

“Don’t change anything, although there will be a slight pressure on Jacob Bethell because some time ago, Alastair Cook asked him to come back if he wasn’t being played. He’s playing, but he’s not scoring runs. He’s doing cameos. That’s not good enough. So that’s something they would want to change,” Chopra said.

Aakash Chopra doubts clarity of Romario Shepherd’s role at RCB

The former KKR cricketer then claimed that Romario Shepherd has been another player in that RCB XI whose role has been doubtful throughout this season, and even RCB is unclear about his utilization.

He pointed out that Shepherd has been very expensive with the ball every time they have passed him the ball, which also cost them the game against the Delhi Capitals, their only loss at Chinnaswamy this season. He hasn’t had many opportunities to contribute with the bat.

“They still don’t know what Romario Shepherd’s role is because he gets hit a lot when he bowls and he can’t bat at all. This is another amazing part that every team plays with 12, plays with 11 and is winning despite that,” observed Aakash Chopra.

Chopra highlights huge drawbacks of GT in IPL 2026

Turning his attention to the Gujarat Titans, Aakash Chopra stated that the team, despite batting well, is again heavily dependent on its front three of Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler. GT has won games in which these three have not failed.

“GT, you have two problems. It includes your dependence on the top three, which will remain. You can’t do anything about it. Sai Sudharsan scored runs that day (away match against RCB) and he needs to score runs today too, or Shubman Gill or Jos Buttler should score runs,” he said.

Another issue that did not escape Aakash Chopra’s eyes was the Titans’ worrying batting form in the death overs, where they failed to get runs at a rate like the other teams. They have managed to score the highest of 42 runs in the last four, which is much less than others. However, Jason Holder could be slowly changing his destiny among the final four.

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