Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag said that the Mumbai Indians (MI) made a blunder during the ‘Eliminator’ match against the Lucknow Super Giants in Chennai on Wednesday, May 24. Virender Sehwag expressed his disappointment over Rohit Sharma’s decision to give the ball to Hrithik Shokeen in the powerplay.
The Mumbai Indians registered a convincing 81-run victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 ‘Eliminator’ match. The Rohit Sharma-led team reached the knockout stages after three years. The Mumbai-based franchise failed to qualify for the play-off matches after their title victory in the IPL 2020.
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Could’ve Given The Over To Him – Virender Sehwag
In a conversation on Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag stated that Hrithik Shokeen’s over could’ve turned the match against the opposition in the early innings.
“I was upset with Rohit because he is a young bowler, and 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,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
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“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 the over to him,” he added.
Hrithik Shokeen came to bowl the final over of the powerplay and conceded 18 in the over, where Marcuc Stoinis smashed two fours and a six. Notably, Shokeen didn’t come to bowl in the innings later.
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Any Other Bowler Could’ve Probably Given 6-8 Runs – Virender Sehwag
The veteran batter said that MI picked up the wicket off Krunal Pandya just after the strategic timeout, which initiated the collapse in the LSG batting order. Sehwag believes that Shokeen could’ve bowled after the powerplay with more fielders at the boundary line.
“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,” he further added.
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“I still feel, though, 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,” he concluded.
The five-time IPL champions will take on the defending champion Gujarat Titans (GT) in ‘Qualifier 2’ at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, May 2.
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