Hardik Pandya’s final over decision earned him plenty of criticism© BCCI/Sportzpics
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 final turned out to be a sporting spectacle that saw Ravindra Jadeja score 10 runs from the final two balls of the match, taking Chennai Super Kings across the line. The final over of the match was all going as per plan for GT, with Mohit Sharma conceding just 3 runs from the first 4 balls. However, the veteran pacer’s rhythm seems to have been shaken a bit following a brief chat with skipper Hardik Pandya, which former India cricketer Virender Sehwag wasn’t pleased to see.
In a chat on Cricbuzz, Sehwag lambasted Hardik for his decision to intervene despite Mohit managing to execute plans to perfection.
“When some is bowling well and is delivering with yorkers, why will you go and have a word with him? He knows that the batter needs 10 from 2 and that he needs to stick with yorkers. Then why will you waste his time? Had Mohit been hit for runs, then he could have gone and had a word, but when the bowler is doing his job you want to get done with the over quickly.
“It also could be that the captain might have come with a concern about whether the bowler would want any changes in the field for the last two balls. But still, if I would have been there, I wouldn’t have disturbed him,” Sehwag said after the match.
Sehwag isn’t the only one who criticised Hardik’s decision. Even India legend Sunil Gavaskar was disappointed to see the GT skipper affecting the bowler’s rhythm at such a crucial stage in the game.
The end result was CSK lifting the IPL title for the 5th time in their history while GT failed in defending their title.
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