What Harsha Bhogle Said? Kings XI Punjab has finally won their second game of the season. It has been their second win against the same opponent and their camp will now feel a bit relaxed at this moment. However, there have been few questionable decision taken by the team management of Royal Challengers Bangalore. AB de Villiers has played a brilliant knock against Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous match at Sharjah. However, the management of Royal Challengers Bangalore has sent Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube ahead of AB de Villiers in this match against Kings XI Punjab.
The change in the batting order has affected them badly. AB de Villiers has not got the opportunity to settle at the crease. He has to fire from the very first ball and that is not a very easy task in the wicket of Sharjah.
The Tweet Sent Out By Harsha Bhogle
The star cricket analyst Harsha Bhogle has slammed the decision of keeping AB de Villiers for late in the match. According to him, AB de Villiers should have come at his preferred position. He has told,
If it was the match-up of AB vs leg spin that caused him to come down at no 6, then Murugan Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi must strut around for the rest of their cricket career, tell their relatives we were the reason the great AB didn’t come out to bat!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 15, 2020
In the post-match presentation, Virat Kohli has said that they have been trying to continue with the left-right combination against the spinners and AB de Villiers has the history of getting out on googlies. That’s why they have kept him for the later part of the innings when the pacers will bowl.
However, over of Mohammed Shami has changed the equation completely. He has taken back to back two wickets of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli in the same over. Virat Kohli has been batting for a long time in this pitch. So, his wicket has been crucial at that stage of the game. However, Chris Morris’ late fire has given Royal Challengers Bangalore a hope to defend 171 in this match.
What Happened In The Second Innings Of The Game?
During the second innings, Virat Kohli has taken several wrong decisions. The specialist fast bowler of Sri Lanka, Isuru Udana has only bowled two overs in the match and Mohammed Siraj has bowled three overs. Mohammed Siraj has conceded 44 runs in three overs of the match. Virat Kohli has kept one over of Yuzi Chahal till the end. Kings XI Punjab could have easily screwed up the chase. However, Nicolas Pooran has hit a six in the last ball to register the second win for his side in this tournament.
Royal Challengers Bangalore have lost a golden opportunity to go to the top two positions in the league table after this defeat. The eight-wicket defeat will surely affect their net run rate. They will face Rajasthan Royals in the next game on Saturday. Another defeat in that match will surely put a lot of pressure on them as they have lost the momentum at this moment.
