Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag was very critical of Manish Pandey after he failed to take Sunrisers Hyderabad home against KKR in their opening encounter. SRH lost by 10 runs as they finished on 177/5 chasing 188 to win. Pandey scored an unbeaten 61 but still the innings did not turn out to be a matchwinning one which was expected from him after getting set. Jonny Bairstow scored an attacking 55 and added 93 with Pandey, but the latter slowed down after Bairstow’s dismissal.
Speaking about his innings, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag opined that Pandey got well settled but couldn’t find the right ball to hit. In a conversation with Cricbuzz, Sehwag made his remarks while answering a fan’s question over Manish Pandey’s inability to hit boundaries in death overs despite settling in.
Manish Pandey Lacked Attacking Approach: Virender Sehwag
“Pandey couldn’t hit a boundary in the last three overs he batted against KKR. That lone six came off the last ball when the match was over. He had an important role play. He already had faced the pressure and was set. Had he taken the initiative to smash a few boundaries, SRH wouldn’t have lost the game by 10 runs,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
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The 93-run stand between Bairstow and Pandey looked like a matchwinning one before Pat Cummins removed the England wicketkeeper-batsman. Cummins who took 12 wickets for KKR in the last season started with one in this game. He dismissed Bairstow in the 13th over and thereby slowing the momentum of SRH’s chase.
Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra heaped praise on KKR skipper Eoin Morgan for making tactical changes in the field positions to restrict Manish Pandey from scoring.
“Pandey’s radar is mostly towards mid-wicket and long-on. Until the mid-wicket fielder was up (inside the circle), he got runs. Once the fielder went deep, Pandey found it difficult to score. For this, I would like to appreciate KKR captain Eoin Morgan” said Nehra.
KKR have a quick turnaround after their first game as they face Mumbai Indians in Chennai on Tuesday (April 13). SRH play 2016 finalists Royal Challengers bangalore on Wednesday (April 14).
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