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In the Indian Premier League eliminator contest on Wednesday night, the Mumbai Indians easily defeated the Lucknow Super Giants. The Rohit Sharma-led team crushed the LSG by 81 runs in Chennai. After the Super Giants posted a respectable score of 182/8 in 20 overs, MI bowled them out for just 101 thanks to Akash Madhwal’s incredible spell (5/5 in 3.3 overs).
Virender Sehwag, a former India opener, noted a time in the game when he was “upset” with Rohit’s decisions during LSG’s innings despite India’s overwhelming victory over Krunal Pandya’s team. Marcus Stoinis, who had been in ominous touch, took the MI spinner to the cleaners by blasting three boundaries (two fours and a six) during the Powerplay’s last over, which Rohit handed to the rookie Hrithik Shokeen. In the end, Shokeen let up 18 runs in one over and didn’t bowl again in the game.
Given that Rohit could have held his over until after the Powerplay, Sehwag while speaking to Cricbuzz, said it was a bad idea to hand the over to Shokeen. He said, “I was upset with Rohit because he is a young bowler, and at that time, Stoinis, an international player, who is set at the crease, was looking to target a bowler. You gave that sixth over to Shokeen, and Stoinis took him to the cleaners. I can understand that you gave the ball to the spinner considering there was a left-hander on strike as well. But you had an in-form bowler in Piyush Chawla who has taken wickets this season. You could’ve given the over to him.”
The former Indian opener further discussed how it should have been given to an experienced bowler instead of a youngster. He said, “Any other bowler could’ve probably given 6-8 runs. I thought the pressure was released in that over. But thankfully, after that strategic timeout, Krunal Pandya played that shot that resulted in his wicket and they collapsed. I still feel, though, that Rohit made a mistake there and he shouldn’t have given that over to Shokeen. He could’ve brought him after the powerplay because the field would’ve spread after six overs.”
