Former Indian cricketer, Virender Sehwag thinks Rajasthan Royals (RR) could have chased the target of 198 runs if RR skipper Sanju Samson and coach Kumar Sangakkara have taken the right decision Eventually, Punjab Kings (PBKS) beat RR by 5 runs in the 8th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
Sehwag’s big concern was Shimron Hetmyer batting lower down the order instead of Riyan Parag and Devdutt Padikkal in the PBKS squad, West Indies star batter who scored 36 runs in 18 balls, while batting at 7th position, but was unable to chase down the target, as he was run out later.
Virender Sehwag reckons Shimron Hetmyer should bat No.4 or 5 position-
“He didn’t get enough balls to bat. What’s the point of this 200 strike rate? If he had batted at No.4 or 5, came ahead of Riyan Parag or even before Padikkal, he is a lefty too, then he would have gotten more balls to bat. He bats at No.4 for the West Indies.
“He has scored a century in India, knows the conditions well enough. He contributed for RR last year. And even when he was a part of the Delhi Capitals’ squad, he had a crucial role in taking them to the finals,” said a former Indian player.
While in the game for Rajasthan based side the newly opening batting partners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yashasvi Jaiswal didn’t last long and the partnership was broken in the second over, as Jaiswal was dismissed for 11 runs, whereas Ashwin was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh on 0 when he tried to pull Indian speedster in the 4th over, as Jos Buttler didn’t come to open the innings for RR.
17th over – 16 runs.
18th over – 19 runs.
19th over – 18 runs.Impressive hitting from Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jorel ?#ShimronHetmyer #SanjuSamson #DhruvJorel #RR #RRvsPBKS #IPL2023 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/y6zD7LxKsk
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) April 5, 2023
“So, he should have been sent in a lot earlier. He is a very dangerous batter. Yes, he could have gotten out early but what’s the guarantee that wouldn’t get out early by batting down the order?”
‘But what if he got set by coming in the top four? He could have won you the game with an over to spare. I think RR captain Sanju Samson and coach Kumar Sangakkara have made an error here,” he further added.
Sanju Samson-led side won the toss and opted to field first, Shikhar Dhawan-led PBKS batted first and posted 197/4 in 20 overs. Punjab’s opener, Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh together added 90 runs in the first 10 overs, while the veteran left-handed batter remained unbeaten on 86 runs to take his side to a comfortable target. For the Royals, Ashwin picked one wicket by giving away 25 runs in four overs.
In the chase, their star overseas player Buttler was dismissed for 19 runs, while the RR skipper scored 42 runs, along with key contributions from Shimron Hetymer and Dhruv Jurel, but at the end, they were short of the target and managed 192/7 in 20 overs.
Now in IPL 2023, RR will take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in their next game on April 8 at Guwahati.