Virender Sehwag, a former Indian opener, raised concerns about the strategies adopted by Hardik Pandya, the captain of Gujarat Titans (GT), during their match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
GT’s bowler Mohit Sharma had performed exceptionally well at the end of their innings, conceding just seven runs in two overs. However, instead of relying on Sharma’s experience, Hardik chose to give the ball to the young and relatively inexperienced Noor Ahmed, a decision that ultimately proved costly for GT as Rajasthan managed to secure victory with only four balls remaining.
According to Virender Sehwag, after Rajasthan Royals’ victory over Gujarat Titans, he expressed his opinion to Cricbuzz about Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and the decision not to use Mohit Sharma to bowl at the death.
Sehwag questioned Pandya’s tactics and decision-making by opting for the inexperienced Noor Ahmed instead of the experienced Mohit Sharma, who had performed well earlier in the innings. Sehwag implied that this choice may have cost Gujarat Titans the game.
“They probably didn’t give Mohit Sharma the ball as they would have thought that he would find it difficult to hit the spinners as compared to pacers. They felt he may not be able to read Rashid and Noor Ahmed properly and would get dismissed. But how do you still not give a third over to someone who has conceded just 7 runs in his first 2 overs,” said the former India and Delhi opener.
During the discussion, former Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia also shared his views on the matter. Bhatia agreed with Sehwag’s opinion and stated that Gujarat Titans should have relied on Mohit Sharma’s experience in the crucial stage of the game.
He pointed out that Sharma had only conceded seven runs in his two overs and questioned why he wasn’t given another over to bowl.
With that defeat against Rajasthan Royals, Gujarat have now lost 2 games on the trot and currently sits 3rd in the points table with 6 points from 3 matches whereas Rajasthan Royals occupy the 1st place with 4 wins in the tournament.
