IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians Tactics Criticised After Their Super Over Loss Against RCB
Sep 29, 2020 at 2:25 PM
Mumbai Indians tactics in the Super Over were criticized by former England captain Kevin Pietersen and ex-India skipper Sunil Gavaskar against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 10th Match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on Monday night.
The duo were unhappy with Mumbai Indians decision to send all-rounder Hardik Pandya into bat along with Kieron Pollard in the Super Over instead of Ishan Kishan, who smashed and top-scored with 99 off 58 balls to help his team tie the match at 201 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs.
Ishan Kishan Not Sent To Bat In Super Over As He Was Drained Out: Rohit Sharma
The trio of Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians managed just seven runs in the Super Over bowled by RCB pacer, Navdeep Saini. RCB skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers then comfortably overhauled the target without losing a wicket.
It was Mumbai Indians first loss in a Super Over after winning the previous two in 2017 against Gujarat Lions and 2019 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
After the match, Rohit Sharma was asked why Ishan Kishan was not sent to bat in the Super Over to which he responded by saying that the left-handed batsman was completely exhausted after his knock.
“He (Kishan) was drained out and was not comfortable. We thought we could send him but he was not feeling fresh. Hardik is somebody we trust to hit long balls, it is not coming off but we are confident he can pull things off for us,” Rohit added.
RCB had posted 201/3 after the fifties from AB De Villiers, Devdutt Pedikkal and Aaron Finch. Mumbai Indians never looked comfortable and were reeling at 78/4 when the duo of Kieron Pollard and Ishan Kishan came to the crease and both scored half-centuries.
Kieron Pollard scored 60 off only 24 deliveries and remained unbeaten while Ishan Kishan scored 99 off 58 balls with two fours and nine sixes and was out while trying to hit a six off the penultimate ball.
Mumbai Indians Missed A Trick: Kevin Pietersen
But Kevin Pietersen was still baffled at MI’s tactics and criticized their decision to ignore Ishan Kishan for the Super Over referring to the earlier tied match between KXIP and DC which KXIP lost after their top scorer Mayank Agarwal was not sent to bat.
“He has (had) to be incredibly exhausted and tired to have not batted in that Super over. I think that Mumbai missed a trick, I’m sorry but with that smaller boundary, batting for 2 minutes is nothing. I’m not criticising him (Ishan Kishan), I’m criticising the decision not for him to bat.
“We saw when Mayank Agarwal didn’t do it the other night (KXIP vs DC in Match 2) and Kings XI lost the contest. ,” Pietersen said on air after the game.
Gavaskar concurred with his English colleague and said: “There’s not much time in a Super Over to plan anything. The worst part is the captain and coach will have 15 people telling them what to do. If it was not 8 or 18 to get, RCB would have sent a left-hander in Shivam Dube.”
“If it was a 40-over game, Ishan Kishan would still want to go out and bat because form is such a fickle thing it can go just like that. So yes, I think Ishan Kishan should have come in because it was a matter of just 6 deliveries.”
Super Over means an over of six balls needs to be bowled and according to legendary Sunil Gavaskar, no need of planning needs to be done to face only six balls. MI’s top scorer Ishan Kishan should definitely come into the crease as it was a matter of only six balls.