IPL 2021: "Such a cruel captain!"- RCB fans furious as Virat Kohli drops Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar has been dropped from the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) playing XI for their match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday. The young all-rounder has had a disappointing IPL 2021 season and was replaced with another all-rounder, Shahbaz Ahmed.

The Chennai-born cricketer made his name at RCB and eventually broke into Team India's T20 squad. His consistent performances saw him displace Ravichandran Ashwin as the Men In Blue's off-spinner, with his batting coming as a bonus.

The 21-year-old took another huge leap in his career by impressing with the bat for Team India in Test cricket. Be it on bouncy pitches Down Under or on rank turners in India, Washington Sundar showed brilliant application and bailed his team out of trouble on multiple occasions.

T20 is a different ball game and Washington Sundar has struggled to adapt to the format this season. He has just three wickets and 31 runs, at an appalling strike rate of 65.95, to show for his efforts from six matches. RCB simply had no choice but to replace the all-rounder as he had become a weak link.

Twitter reacts to Washington Sundar's exclusion from RCB's playing XI

Fans on Twitter had mixed reactions to Washington Sundar's absence from RCB's playing XI. Some trolled the all-rounder for his slow batting and ineffective bowling, while others believed he deserved another chance and slammed RCB skipper Virat Kohli for the decision.

Here is what they had to say:

This is how @RCBTweets and captain Virat backs youngsters. 🤡
Washington Sundar dropped from the playing 11 after few bad innings.
And Virat fans were howling for the credit when Sundar performed good in last year’s IPL. https://t.co/9FMoJrVNa8
— Abhay (@TheRampShot) April 30, 2021

I feel for Washington Sundar
A player like him should never be benched
He is too good a player 🙂
— Asha (@ashaa_45) April 30, 2021

Best economy rate in 2020 IPL :-

Rashid Khan - 5.37
Mohammad Nabi - 5.75
Washington Sundar - 5.76

Now Washington Sundar is dropped in this season on the basis of 6 games where he was decent not even bad

Such a cruel captain Kohli is, no wonder players perform after leaving RCB
— Nitin #MI💙 (@LoyalMIfan) April 30, 2021

The leader Washington Sundar needs! pic.twitter.com/cCfWgIu5tY
— MK wears Mask 😷 (You should too) (@NotMK45) April 30, 2021

#RCBvsDC Washington sundar

Expectations Sad reality pic.twitter.com/tktvRGsFU7
— Delhi suri😎⚡ (@Rohith11510615) April 27, 2021

Most supportive and backing captain in IPL dropped Washington Sundar from playing 11 after few band innings . 🤡 https://t.co/zsZ38ETqVU
— Hemanth Shaiva 2.0 (@Hemanth__Shaiva) April 30, 2021

No Washington sundar today that's a horrible choice #RCBvsPBKS
— maharshi jesalpura (@maharshiJ) April 30, 2021

Happy atlast to see useless washington sundar axed. This should have been done a long time back. Pavan Deshpande should have been given a chance. Unfortunate that Pavan has missed out yet again.
— Pulimajjige (@pulimajjige) April 30, 2021

Washington Sundar dropped for Shahbaz, at least this guy can clear 30 yard circle. Bowling me aise bhi sundar kuch ukhad nahi raha tha.
— Dibya (@dibyafucknows) April 30, 2021

Dear rcb if u want to win than pls replace Washington sundar with any player ..he is totally useless man in squad
— RUPENDRA DANSENA (@RUPENDRADANSEN2) April 30, 2021

Player like Moeen Ali feels empowered with Dhoni
Player like Washington sundar feels depleted with Kohli#IPL2021 #Dhoni
— Gautam Kashyap (@gkash77) April 27, 2021

The Punjab Kings, on the other hand, made three changes to their line-up. With Mayank Agarwal injured, the pressure on skipper KL Rahul to score runs has only increased. He needs the likes of Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran to also contribute.

Rahul averages about 75 with the bat against RCB and will certainly want to continue his dominance. It will be interesting to see how things pan out as PBKS are desperately in need of a win.

Published 30 Apr 2021