Ravi Ashwin's comments on bowling to Virender Sehwag in the nets is famed. The ace Indian spinner had no answer to Viru's aggressive approach, he remembered during a media interaction. Sehwag, on his part too, had voiced his opinion on social media about the way he thought, spinners "should be dealt with".
However, don't let these instances confuse you about Sehwag's philosophy. The 'Sultan of Multan' does not think that good deliveries should not be respected just because they turn. There is no shame in respecting good spin deliveries so that you can survive to face weaker ones, the former Indian opener opined. Batters should leave behind their ego before coming out to bat, he reportedly said.
Sehwag's comments came in the backdrop of Mumbai Indians' defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday. Criticising Indian national team captain Rohit Sharma for throwing away his wicket cheaply, Sehwag said a batter should respect a good delivery if he can't respect the bowler. Sehwag also named Suryakumar Yadav in his statements for throwing away his wicket in a similar way. If Rohit and SKY had managed to see off the good deliveries, they could have settled down and won the contest for Mumbai Indians, Hindustan Times quoted Sehwag as telling Cricbuzz.
“Whoever bowls good, just play him out. If two wickets hadn't fallen, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav could've finished the match an over before. Vaibhav Arora, Mitchell Starc, Andre Russell and Harshit Rana had to ball anyway. If they played out the spinners and didn't lose the wickets, they would've won the game,” Sehwag reportedly said.
While Rohit Sharma was caught by Sunil Narine off Varun Chakaravarthy after making 19 off 24, Yadav was caught by Ramandeep Singh off Andre Russell. The stylish right-hander only managed 11 from 14 balls.
"You could be Rohit Sharma or Suryakumar Yadav, but at least respect the delivery if you can't respect the bowler. The ball on which Rohit Sharma got out wasn't a weak ball. No doubt Rohit and Suryakumar are great players, but that doesn't mean you should hit the good deliveries, too...
"You can't have an ego when you come out to bat. You play them out or punish the loose deliveries. Naman Dhir came right at the end and smashed two sixes and a four; if Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav were set at that time, they would've hit 5 balls for boundariesSehwag said further," he reportedly told Cricbuzz
KKR vs MI: As it happened at Eden Gardens on Saturday
Spin twins Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy derailed Mumbai Indians after a strong start as Kolkata Knight Riders sealed a playoffs berth with an 18-run win in a rain-curtailed IPL match here on Saturday.
Venkatesh Iyer stood out with a 21-ball 42 before a disciplined MI bowling unit restricted KKR to 157/7 after a one-hour, thirty-minute delay reduced it to a 16 overs-a-side contest.
Already out of the playoffs race, five-time champions MI cruised to 65 for no loss in 6.4 overs before KKR's star spinner Narine triggered the collapse, halting Ishan Kishan's (40 off 22 balls) explosive start.
With Chakravarthy taking 2/17 and Russell picking 2/34, KKR sent half the Mumbai side packing inside 13 overs, before restricting them to 139/8 in the stipulated 16 overs.
