Virender Sehwag, Kings XI Punjab’s mentor, made a bizarre attack on captain Glenn Maxwell after the team stumbled to a record low score against Rising Pune Supergiant
Kings XI Punjab mentor Virender Sehwag ripped apart the overseas players for failing to rise to the challenge in the virtual qualifier against Rising Pune Supergiant at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Sunday.
Skipper Glenn Maxwell (0), Martin Guptill (0), Shaun Marsh (10) and Eoin Morgan (4) put up a dismal show as KXIP careened to 32 for 5 in the Powerplay. Maxwell had a poor season as he got only 310 runs in 14 games at an average of 31.00. And Sehwag felt that Maxwell did not take the responsibility as the captain.
“I’m very disappointed,” Sehwag said in 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
Sehwag fired against his team’s batsmen, the foreigners in general and skipper Glenn Maxwell in particular, as Kings XI Punjab suffered a nine-wicket defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant in Pune. He also gone to the extent of saying that Maxwell didn’t take the responsibility as a skipper.
“We always knew that when Maxwell fires, then he can win the match on his own. 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”
Though he defended Guptill, Sehwag said other players had spoiled their wicket by playing unnecessary shots and it cost the team to lose the match without giving a fight.
“I think his (Guptill) role was to catch the powerplay and (Wriddhiman) Saha’s was to just bat around with him. 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. 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,” Sehwag said.
He didn’t spare the Indian batsmen too and said none of them showed consistency like Hashim Amla did. He also said that the absence of Amla made a huge blow to the playing eleven and definitely missed the consistency and experience of Amla in the must-win game
“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 (Glenn) Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, (Martin) Guptill and (Eoin) Morgan (were all disappointing). The way we fought back against KKR and Mumbai, we had a good chance to play against Pune. But we didn’t do well (here),” Sehwag lamented.
