Former Indian opener and currently head of operations for Kings XI Punjab, Virender Sehwag was an irate man after his side surrendered the knockout match against Pune as they folded out for a mere 73 at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
A vividly seething Sehwag lashed out at his batsmen and made sure that he minces no words for the overseas players.
Watch the Press conference here.
"I'm very disappointed," Sehwag said during the post-match press conference.
"I can say that none of the foreign players took responsibility and at least played 12 to 15 overs. Their role was at least one of the top four should bat for 12 to 15 overs, but none of the batsmen took the responsibility.”
"I think they were complaining that the wicket was a bit slow but when you play international cricket so much, you should get used to playing on difficult or good wickets. There are very rare occasions when you get a good wicket to bat on but whatever wicket you get, you have to play at least 20 overs for your side. But Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Guptill and Morgan [were all disappointing]”, he further added.
Punjab was invited to bat on a slightly damp pitch and their batting imploded as they lost half their side in the powerplays as they limped to 32 for 5 in the first 6 overs.
Martin Guptill was dismissed on the first ball of the day as he tried to drive a length ball through covers only to offer a meek catch to short cover and this opened the floodgates.
"Guptill's role was to cash in during the Powerplay and [the other opener] Wriddhiman Saha's was to just bat around with him," Sehwag said.
"So I don't mind him getting out on the first or second ball as long as he knows what he's doing. There's no point blaming him; I should rather blame the other batsmen. Even Marsh, his role was to play till 10-12 overs, but the way he got out was disappointing and then Maxwell and Morgan, these are the experienced players… I mean the players who got out had been informing the next batsman that it's a slow wicket and even then if you throw away wickets, it means that you're not up for the game", a miffed Sehwag said.
Lashes out at Glenn Maxwell
The appointment of Glenn Maxwell as the captain of Kings XI Punjab raised plenty of eyebrows but this was a brave move by the management and Sehwag was not pleased with the performances of the skipper.
"We always knew that when Maxwell fires, then he can win the match on his own," Sehwag said.
"But he didn't fire in most games. That is a big disappointment, especially since he's experienced, having played for Australia's Test and ODI teams. He didn't take the responsibility as a captain and didn't perform for Kings XI Punjab," he quipped.
Absence of Hashim Amla
The South African was the standout performer for Punjab as he scripted two centuries this season. However, he had to leave the team midway owing to National duties and this dented Punjab’s combination.
"We missed Hashim Amla, for sure," Sehwag said.
"The kind of consistency he showed, none of the other players could do that, an individual couldn't take responsibility. Saha played one [good] innings, Manan Vohra played one innings but apart from that none of the others played responsibly.”
“He knows how to score runs immaterial of the format. And he takes very few risks. Whatever risks he takes, it is always after 12 or 15 overs, when he knows that he has completed his role and there's a need to score quick runs. Otherwise, for the first 10 overs he takes less risks and remains on 30-40 and converts them into big scores. The two hundreds that he scored were brilliant. The other players in the team have a lot to learn from Hashim Amla, be it international players or Indian," Sehwag added.
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