Former South African skipper Shaun Pollock criticised Rishabh Pant’s captaincy after Lucknow Super Giants suffered a six-wicket loss against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Monday. Pollock questioned Pant for utilising only five specialist bowlers when they were trying to defend 228 runs.
The former Proteas captain slammed Avesh Khan, who conceded 56 runs in 3.4 overs he bowled. Khan was given the final over of the Powerplay, and he was taken for 21 runs by Rohit Sharma.
Barring Prince Yadav, all the LSG bowlers conceded their runs at an economy rate of more than 11.
Shaun Pollock said on Cricbuzz, “They also used only five bowlers and didn’t go to the extra option of Aiden Markram. Someone like Avesh Khan, his strength has always been pounding the good length. Here, he was running up and trying to bowl yorkers. And they were knee high, getting smacked away. Bowlers have to realize what their strength is and stick to it. By bringing in Inglis, they missed out on an international bowler, which probably would have served the balance better.”
“Sometimes in such games, it almost looks like you are aimless as a captain. When two players are flying like they were at the top of the order for MI, you feel like there is nothing you can do. But it looked like there were no clear-cut plans on how they were going to pick up a wicket or restrict scoring. It didn’t look like they went to something unique, but more a case of them hoping the MI openers get out.”
Meanwhile, MI’s veteran batter Rohit Sharma scored a run-a-ball 15 but later changed his gears. He went on to score 84 runs off just 44 balls and Pollock said Rohit showed maturity to take his time at the beginning when Ryan Rickelton was firing at all guns.
“There was maturity on his part to take his time when Rickleton was going great guns. He knew he was playing after a while. Then he was able to cut loose at the backend of the powerplay. He always had this natural talent with a lot of time to play his shots. Some people can look rushed, but he always had that extra half-second to execute his shots,” said Pollock (via the aforementioned source).
Mumbai Indians will next take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Raipur on Sunday.
