Former India player Virender Sehwag believes the responsibility of the Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) rather forgetful defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Tuesday will be hard to swallow for their openers, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul, along with no.3 batsman Aiden Markram as well.
While speaking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag said either one of Agarwal or Rahul should have been there and finished the game after facing 30-plus balls in the game by then. He also stated that had Chris Gayle been there, he would have taken the team to the finish line. Notably, Gayle made way for Makram, who and scored a half-century.
Virender Sehwag said: “Singling out the player for defeat would be a bit difficult for this match. I would say that luck didn’t favor them but still if we have to pick someone, it should be Mayank Agarwal. If you are in form and scoring runs then you should finish the game and not leave it on anyone else… I always talk about Ruturaj (Gaikwad), he scored 89 not out, played 20 overs, even played the last ball and hit a six which probably won the game for CSK.”
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The former India opener again shared: “Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul should do the same because that is the responsibility of the top-3. The new batsman doesn’t know much about the pitch or how to play on it but you are there for 40-50 balls. The team shouldn’t lose like this. If it was for Chris Gayle, I guarantee that if he had scored 50-60, he wouldn’t have let PBKS lose. He would have won the game for them.”
Virender Sehwag also opened up how Markram made a huge mistake by not taking the strike back in the final over despite Kartik Tyagi’s wide-ish deliveries that gave him the opportunity too
Virender Sehwag again explained: “He’s not out on 26 and didn’t play a single ball in the last over. He’s an international player, a senior player, it was his right to reach out to the non-striker batsman and say that he has to run [to rotate strike] no matter where the ball goes. You should have taken the strike back because you have already played 20 deliveries. I believe that’s another mistake.”
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“Such mistakes don’t happen when MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are at the crease. Even from the outside a message should be sent that the non-striker should somehow take the strike back. If he had reached there, Punjab would have won. Tyagi was brilliant in the last over but Markram was at fault too,” Virender Sehwag concluded.
