MI scored only 131 runs against PBKS in an IPL 2021 encounter.
Former Indian cricketers Virender Sehwag and Ajay Jadeja have slammed defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) for their batting approach against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Match 17 of IPL 2021.
Mumbai Indians faced their second successive loss of the IPL 14 against Punjab Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Invited to bat, defending champions lost opener Quinton de Kock in the second over. The dismissal saw Ishan Kishan coming in at No.3 ahead of the Suryakumar Yadav, who played some fine knocks in last couple of matches.
The Rohit Sharma-led side managed to score only 21 runs in the mandatory 6 over power play at the loss of 1 wicket.
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Coming in at No.4 Suryakumar Yadav played an impressive knock of 33 runs and stitched important 79 runs partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma, who scored 63 runs, and helped his team post a total of 131 runs.
Talking to Cricbuzz, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag feels Suryakumar Yadav could have taken more advantage of the powerplay than Ishan Kishan.
“The kind of form Suryakumar was in, he hit a fifty earlier, perhaps he could have taken more advantage of the powerplay. See, even he could’ve gotten out early but he had better chances.
He added that demoting an in-form player behind someone who hasn't scored a lot in the last few games, that too in a difficult situation, was a wrong move.
“You are sending someone who hasn’t scored runs in 4 matches with hope that he will get you runs but you are demoting someone who has scored 2-3 out of your last 4 games. When 2-3 wickets fall quickly then there is pressure on that in-form player too,” Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
Sehwag said that it would’ve been better for MI if they had sent Suryakumar Yadav early in the powerplay as he could’ve given necessary momentum to the innings.
“It would have been better had they sent Suryakumar early in the powerplay. He could have given the necessary momentum to the innings,” he said.
Virender Sehwag further said that the only good thing for MI was the partnership between Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav who batted till 15-16th over and expected their big hitters to play fearless cricket.
“The only good thing for MI was that Rohit and Suryakumar batted till the 15-16th over. They thought their big-hitters would play fearless cricket in the backend of the innings but that didn’t happen,” he said.
While talking about the same, former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja said that MI came out to play with their shutters closed which is not their style of playing.
“We were saying that MI are not playing well but they were scoring 150 at least but today they played well but got only 130. This was beyond me. You can play poorly, get out early but they came out today with their shutters closed, which is not their style of batting,” Ajay Jadeja said.
Ajay Jadeja further slammed MI for not sending Suryakumar Yadav ahead of Ishan Kishan and correlated Virender Sehwag batting down the order rather than opening.
“If we lose 2-3 early wickets in the powerplay then it’s understandable but not in this case. Then you don’t send your in-form player Suryakumar Yadav at 3. Tell me, would you ask Virender Sehwag not to open and bat down the order?” he said.
Mumbai Indians will now shift their base from Chennai to Delhi and will face Rajasthan Royals (RR) on 29th April.
(Cricbuzz Inputs)