Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was not too impressed by Mumbai Indians Rohit Sharma’s captaincy against Lucknow Super Giants as he bowled young Hrithik Shokeen over the in-form Piyush Chawla in the 6th over of the powerplay in the important Eliminator game on Wednesday.
Sehwag pointed out the mistake of the Mumbai Indians’ skipper, as the LSG all-rounder Marcus Stoinis took on a young off-spinner for 18 runs in the final over of the powerplay to put pressure on the off-spinner, as the youngster didn’t bowl another over in the game.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag said that he was upset with Rohit Sharma to bring in the young spinner against the experienced Marcus Stoinis, who was looking to maximize the powerplay at that stage of the innings to give their real chance to chase down the total.
“I was upset with Rohit because he is a young bowler, and at that time, Stoinis, an international player, who is set at the crease, was looking to target a bowler. You gave that sixth over to Shokeen, and Stoinis took him to cleaners,” Virender Sehwag said.
Sehwag feels that Rohit Sharma should have brought in their experienced Piyush Chawla, who has been providing a vital breakthrough for the team in middle overs as he picked up 21 wickets for the side being the go-to man for the Mumbai Indians skipper in IPL 2023
“I can understand that you gave the ball to the spinner considering there was a left-hander on strike as well. But you had an in-form bowler in Piyush Chawla who has taken wickets this season. You could’ve given them over to him,” the former Indian opener added.
In the bowling for Mumbai Indians, Akash Madhwal displayed an outstanding spell of fast bowling picking up his maiden 5-wicket haul in the cash-rich league well supported by Piyush Chawla and Cameron Green in the middle overs to keep up the run-rate high to put pressure on the Lucknow Super Giants batter.
I Thought The Pressure Was Released In That Over – Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag reckons that any other bowler would have conceded fewer runs than Shooken in the 6th overs, as the momentum slightly shifted towards LSG after the powerplay, and said that Krunal Pandya played a rash shot which started the collapse of the team from where they found no way to make a comeback into the game.
“Any other bowler could’ve probably given 6-8 runs. I thought the pressure was released in that over. But thankfully, after that strategic timeout, Krunal Pandya played that shot that resulted in his wicket and they collapsed.”
The former Indian opener asserted that Rohit Sharma should have brought in Shokeen post-power play when the field was spread out to give him extra protection in the boundary line.
“I still feel, that Rohit made a mistake there and he shouldn’t have given that over to Shokeen. He could’ve brought him after the powerplay because the field would’ve spread after six overs,” Virender Sehwag concluded.
Mumbai Indians will take on the defending champions Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 in the famous Narendra Modi Stadium on May 26 and will look to go one step further to take on arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings in the grand final on May 28.