The 22nd match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 saw a nail-biting contest where Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) managed to defeat Delhi Capitals (DC) by one run at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
It was the second loss for the Capitals in the ongoing fourteenth season of the cash-rich league. Post the game, former India opener Virender Sehwag gave his views as he didn’t look impressed with Rishabh Pant‘s captaincy.
Sehwag lashed out at Pant for not using the bowlers properly. The cricketer-turned-commentator was referring to the decision of Pant not allowing Amit Mishra to complete his quota of 4 overs. The veteran spinner only bowled three overs and picked up the prized wicket of Glenn Maxwell.
Instead of Mishra, the new skipper of DC gave the responsibility to Marcus Stoinis to bowl the final over. The move clearly backfired as Stoinis ended up conceding 23 runs after AB de Villiers demolished him with three massive sixes.
While speaking at Cricbuzz‘s post-match show, Sehwag rated Pant’s captaincy 3 out of 10, saying a captain should know how to manage the bowling resources as per the situation of the game.
“I won’t give him even five marks out of 10 for his captaincy because you just can’t make such mistakes. If your main bowler isn’t bowling, your calculations go wrong – that’s what captaincy is all about. You need to take care of that. A captain must manage his bowling resources according to the situation. A captain should know whom to give the ball when a right-handed batter or a left-handed batsman comes to bat,” said Sehwag.
The former Delhi opener cited the example of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni and said Pant should learn from the Ranchi-lad how to make smart moves in captaincy.
“You see MS Dhoni; whenever a wicket falls, he brings that bowler who is the weakest link in the bowling. These are the things that one should learn in captaincy. Otherwise, you hand over the ball to whomsoever you want,” added the 42-year-old.
Sehwag asserted that if Pant wants to become a successful captain, he should know how to turn the game and pay attention to every small detail.
“The capability of a skipper is measured by how he turns the game around. He needs to make changes in the bowling or field position accordingly, so I will just give him (Pant) 3 out of 10, because if Pant wants to become a smart captain in future, then he should pay attention to these small details,” concluded Sehwag.
