Former India opener and Punjab Kings captain Virender Sehwag on Thursday blamed the Rajasthan Royals' team management for their defeat against PBKS in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
RR lost by 5 runs against PBKS in a high-scoring thriller but Sehwag feels the result could have been different if the Royals had sent in Shimron Hetmyer earlier in the run chase.
The West Indies batting star came in at No. 7 after Riyan Parag's dismissal in the 15th over with RR needing 77 runs from 35 balls. Hetmyer survived a hat-trick ball and immediately started to take the attack to the opposition to try and match the required run rate.
He joined forces with Impact Player Dhruv Jurel for the seventh wicket and added 61 runs off 26 balls, taking the Royals from 124 for 6 to 186 for 6 before Hetmyer got out in the final over and they eventually fell agonisingly short.
Shimron Hetmyer came in too late
And Sehwag feels the team management should have sent Hetmyer much earlier.
"He didn't get enough balls to bat. What's the point of this 200 strike rate? If he had batted at No.4 or 5, came ahead of Riyan Parag or even before Padikkal, he is a lefty too, then he would have gotten more balls to bat.
"He bats at No.4 for the West Indies. He has scored a century in India, knows the conditions well enough. He contributed for RR last year. And even when he was a part of the Delhi Capitals' squad, he had a crucial role in taking them to the finals," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Sehwag points fingers at Samson, Sangakkara
Sehwag blamed captain Sanju Samson and coach Kumar Sangakkara for RR's defeat as their call of sending Hetmyer late made the difference in the result.
"So, he should have been sent in a lot earlier. He is a very dangerous batter. Yes, he could have gotten out early but what's the guarantee that wouldn't get out early by batting down the order? But what if he got set by coming in the top four?
"He could have won you the game with an over to spare. I think RR captain Sanju Samson and coach Kumar Sangakkara have made an error here," he added.
