‘Not a single RCB batter used common sense’: Sehwag pulls the trigger on Rajat Patidar for ‘not finding solution’

Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag did not spare Royal Challengers Bengaluru batters for coming a cropper against Punjab Kings in a 14-over-a-side rain-curtailed match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.

Batting first, RCB stuttered their way to 95/9 and that too because of Tim David’s rescue act. PBKS chased down the target with 11 balls and five wickets to spare.

RCB pacers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were impressive with the ball, sharing five wickets, but the lack of runs on the board negated their impact.

On a decent batting track, RCB at one stage were 42/7 in 8.2 overs. If it wasn’t for Tim David’s unbeaten 50 off 26 balls, RCB could well have stared down at one of their lowest totals.

Sehwag said no RCB batter showed common sense in taking the team to a fighting total. They were dismissed, playing reckless shots. “RCB batted poorly. All of them played reckless shots to get out. Not a single batter was out to a good ball. At least one batter should’ve used common sense. If they had wickets in hand, they could have reached 110 or 120 in 14 overs, which would have given them a chance to fight,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

Arshdeep Singh removed Phil Salt in the very first over for 4. RCB skipper Rajat Patidar joined Virat Kohli in the middle.

In the second over, Rajat Patidar crossed 1000 IPL runs and became the second fastest Indian batter to do so. Arshdeep took early wickets as he removed Virat Kohli in the third over for 1(3), and Liam Livingstone joined Patidar at the crease.

Xavier Bartlett removed Livingstone in the fourth over, for 4. PBKS players took good catches in the power-play, Jitesh Sharma joined RCB skipper. Veteran spinner Yuzvendra Chahal removed wicketkeeper/batter Jitesh Sharma for two in the 7th over. RCB kept losing wickets in regular intervals.

RCB’s impact player Manoj Bhandage didn’t make any impact with the bat as Jansen removed him for one in the ninth over.

Harpreet Brar, playing his first match of this season, took back-to-back wickets in his first over. He removed Bhuvneshwar for 8 and Yash Dayal in the 12th over.

Sehwag not happy with RCB captain Rajat Patidar, blames him for not finding a solution to batting woes
Sehwag said credit must be given to PBKS bowlers for restricting the opposition under 100 in back-to-back matches but in against RCB, it was more the case of their batters throwing the wickets away. “There is difference between getting wickets and earning wickets,” he said.

Sehwag was also not happy with RCB captain Rajat Patidar trying to brush the batters’ failure under the carpet. This was RCB’s third straight loss at home this season, and they also became the team to lose the most matches at home. It was RCB’s 46th loss at the Chinnaswamy.

“Patidar has to think and come up with a solution. They have not been winning at home. Their bowlers are doing well but why are their batters faltering regularly? It’s not alright if your batters continuously fail at home. Who is going to rectify that?” Sehwag asked.

After winning three of their first four games in this IPL, RCB has lost two of its last three.