Sanjay Manjrekar criticized Sunrisers Hyderabad’s team management over their poor selection policies as they lost against Mumbai Indians by 13 runs in IPL 2021 on Saturday.
Former India cricketer and expert Sanjay Manjrekar on Saturday criticized Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) over their poor selection as David Warner-led SRH suffered their third consecutive defeat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. SRH squandered yet another run-chase to embrace a 13-run defeat against Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Sanjay Manjrekar: Any Team That Picks Virat Singh, Abdul Samad, And Abhishek Sharma Together In An XI Doesn’t Deserve To Win
Asked to chase down a moderate target of 151 runs, Sunrisers Hyderabad were off to a brilliant start with an opening stand of 67 runs between skipper David Warner (32) and Jonny Bairstow (42). However, the team once again lost the plot after the duo’s departure and were bundled out for a paltry 137 to fall agonizingly short in the run-chase.
From a strong position of 67/1 inside eight overs, SRH lost the last nine wickets for just 60 runs to continue their losing run in the ongoing season. SRH is now winless in their first three games of IPL 2021 and is the only team yet to get off the mark in the ongoing season.
Sanjay Manjrekar took to Twitter to aim a dig at SRH after their third consecutive loss in IPL 2021 and said any team that plays Virat Singh, Abdul Samad, and Abhishek Sharma together in an XI doesn’t deserve to win. SRH had made four changes in the XI for the MI clash and were riding on these youngsters to get them through, however, none of them managed to step up and perform.
“Sorry to say, but anyone that picks Abhishek Sharma, Virat Singh, and Abdul Samad all together in one playing XI do not deserve to win,” Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted.
https://twitter.com/sanjaymanjrekar/status/1383476062705754114?s=20
SRH decided to make some wholesale changes to their playing XI. Four changes were made to the line-up as Virat Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Khaleel Ahmed were picked for the MI match. Wriddhiman Saha, Jason Holder, Shahbaz Nadeem, and T Natarajan were dropped from the playing XI. Virat Singh scored 11 while Abhishek Sharma scored 2 and Abdul Samad scored 7.
According to Sanjay Manjrekar, the reason for failure was the three uncapped Indian players who form SRH’s middle order: Abhishek Sharma, Virat Singh, and Abdul Samad.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Selection Policy Baffling As They Left Out Kane Williamson Again From Playing 11
Sunrisers Hyderabad had opened their campaign with a ten-run loss against the Kolkata Knight Riders before losing to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 runs in their second game despite remaining ahead for the most part of the contest. They suffered their third straight defeat against Mumbai Indians on Saturday despite making a plethora of changes in the XI.
SRH lost to KKR and then to RCB before suffering defeat against Mumbai Indians. While the openers failed against KKR as Manish Pandey’s 61 and Jonny Bairstow’s 55 went in vain, against RCB they fell agonizingly short despite David Warner’s 54 as they finished on 143/9 after cruising at 115/2 in the 16th over. They could not score the required 35 runs in 4 overs losing 7 wickets against RCB.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper David Warner has said that New Zealand’s Kane Williamson “might” play in the next game “if he is great to go”.
David Warner’s comment comes after criticism that SRH should have included Kane Williamson in its playing XI in the first three matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021). However, Kane Williamson’s fitness has been a key issue for selectors as he suffered an injury during Bangladesh’s tour of New Zealand, following which he was advised to stay off the field.
Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 150/5 (Quinton de Kock 40, Kieron Pollard 35*; Vijay Shankar 2/19) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 137 all out (Jonny Bairstow 43, David Warner 36; Rahul Chahar 3/19) by 13 runs.