Virender Sehwag felt that none of the foreign players in the Kings XI Punjab line-up took responsibility during their Indian Premier League [IPL] match against Rising Pune Supergiant on Sunday.
The former Indian batsman, who is the director of cricket operations for the Punjab-based franchise, mentioned that he was disappointed after his team weren’t able to bat out their 20 overs and suffered a nine-wicket loss in what was a virtual quarter-final.
The Kings XI decided to use all their four overseas spots on batsmen and that didn’t work out very well as they were bowled out for just 73. Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh, Eoin Morgan, and Glenn Maxwell managed just 14 runs between them.
“I’m very disappointed. I can say that none of the foreign players took responsibility and at least batted 12 to 15 overs. Their role was at least one of the top four should bat for this length of time but none of the batsmen took responsibility,” said Sehwag.
“I think they were complaining that the wicket was little on the slower side but when you’ve played international cricket so much, you should get used to playing on all wickets – difficult or good.
“There are very rare occasions when you get a good wicket to bat on but whatever wicket you get, you have to see out at least play 20 overs for your side.”
Wow, @virendersehwag is scathing in his criticism of @lionsdenkxip's overseas players......
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 14, 2017
Opener Guptill was dismissed for a duck off the first delivery of the innings, but Sehwag didn’t want to blame the New Zealand opener as he didn’t get much time to assess the pitch.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, the 38-year-old added that incoming batsmen were informed about the slowness of the wicket, but it did not yield any positive results.
“His [Guptill] role was to cash in during the Powerplay and Saha’s role was to bat around him. I don’t mind him getting out on the first ball or second ball as long as he knows what he is doing. He didn’t have any time because he got out on the first ball so I don’t think I should blame him,” he said.
“I should blame the other batsmen. Even Marsh, his role was to at least bat 10 to 12 overs. The way he got out, it was very disappointing and Maxwell after that and (even) Morgan.
“The batsmen who got out gave the message to the next batsman that the wicket is slow and if you score only 120-130, it was a good total on this wicket. Still, if you make a mistake and get out, then that means that you’re not up for the game.”
Sehwag was very critical of captain Maxwell, who had an indifferent season with the bat. The Australian batsman notched up 310 runs in 10 matches at an average of 31 and a strike-rate of 173.18 but failed to score a single half-century.
“We always knew that when Maxwell fires, then he can win the match on his own. But he didn’t fire in eight or nine games. That is a big disappointment, especially since he’s experienced, having played for Australia’s Test and ODI teams.” added Sehwag.
“He didn’t take the responsibility as a captain and didn’t perform for Kings XI Punjab.”
We tried our backsides off @lionsdenkxip!! As captain, I couldn't be more proud of the group for all their efforts on and off the field!
— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) May 14, 2017
