Rajasthan Royals’ Ravi Bishnoi, second from left, celebrates with teammates (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra praised Ravi Bishnoi for his decisive spell in Rajasthan Royals’ narrow six-run win over Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026. He also noted that the leg-spinner was undervalued in the auction and deserved a much higher price.Chasing 211 in Ahmedabad on April 4, Gujarat were largely undone by Bishnoi’s impact with the ball. The wrist-spinner returned figures of 4/41 from his four overs and struck at crucial moments to tilt the game in Rajasthan’s favour.On his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on Bishnoi’s worth and performance.“Ravi Bishnoi, at the time of the auction we talked about him being sold very cheaply – seven crores is cheap. He should have got 10-11 crores. For seven crores it was a great acquisition. He took four wickets and made the difference in the end because all the important wickets were to his name.”Chopra also reserved special praise for Tushar Deshpande, who came through under pressure in the final over to seal the game.“Tushar Deshpande came into the team and Brijesh Sharma wasn’t there and what a change it was at the end because Tushar Deshpande was between winning and losing. Tushar Deshpande executed those yorkers beautifully. Thumbs up with both hands for executing under pressure,” he remarked.Deshpande finished with figures of 1/24 in three overs and held his nerve in the final over, conceding just four runs and dismissing Rashid Khan when Gujarat needed 11 off six balls.Earlier in the innings, Dhruv Jurel played an excellent knock as he scored 75 off 42 deliveries to anchor Rajasthan’s innings. Chopra praised his maturity, especially after moving up the order this season.“Before that, Dhruv Jurel. They took a big challenge this season to bat him at No. 3 and he was absolutely stellar. He batted almost till the end. He scored his first Test century only on this ground. A very good guy. I love him to bits. I feel very happy when he does well. Then there are their two openers. In my opinion, Vaishi hejbal and Yawalis Suryavan are the most explosive players in this leagues. he said.Along with Jurel, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (31 off 18) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (55 off 36) gave Rajasthan a strong start at the top.On the other hand, Chopra pointed out the flaws in Gujarat’s chase and suggested that better planning could have changed the result.“GT, this match was yours. There are batting problems. Shubman Gill’s injury didn’t help of course, but wickets fell at regular intervals. I thought it was a bit of a haphazard chase. You could have won this game if you pitched it a little better,” observed Chopra.
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Despite a solid 73 off 44 from Sai Sudharsan, Gujarat lost momentum after his dismissal. From a strong position of 107/1 in 10.3 overs, the innings unraveled and allowed Rajasthan to complete a dramatic turnaround.
