Of the legacy IPL franchises, which have been played since the inaugural edition in 2008, only three franchises – Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals – are yet to win the T20 competition. Indian cricket team great Virender Sehwag played for PBKS (then Kings XI Punjab) for two seasons. Now, in a blatant dig at the franchise, Sehwag has said that his time with the franchise resulted in his spectacular loss of form.
“Jab mein punjab mein gaya tab mera strike rate gir gaya. Woh kehte hai na ke jaisi sangati waisa behave karte ho. Toh waha ki sangati waisi hello thi. Jeet te de nahi, khel te acha de nahi, toh mera game aur thoda kharab ho gaya (When I went to Punjab, my strike rate dropped. There is a saying that you act like your company. Same was the case. They didn’t win anything or play well),” Sehwag said while speaking on Star Sports.
— Bravo 2.0 (@MrCricket183) March 25, 2024
The start of the IPL 2024 was lukewarm for Punjab Kings. After winning the first match against Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their second match on Monday.
After his side’s victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf Du Plessis praised Virat Kohli for his knock and said his stay was important at that playing field and that he is still passionate about the sport.
The ‘Chasemaster’ Virat roared loudly and Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthik delivered fine results to help RCB secure a four-wicket win over PBKS at their home ground, Chinaswammy Stadium, on Monday.
Speaking about Virat after the match, Du Plessis said: “Virat was important on that field. He’s still having a blast, very passionate about playing cricket. Fresh and motivated to do well.”
Speaking about his feelings during the exciting chase, Faf said: “On the outside, not so much on the inside (was he calm?). At the beginning of the race you want to make sure you cross the line. I felt like that we were in the race.” position to do so sooner. With the new Impact Player rule, we knew Mahipal Lomror was coming in – he has a lot of power. Now with the extra batsman you feel like even 14-15 rpo is achievable. “
He praised Dinesh for his finishing and said, “Really happy for him (DK). I said it the other day – very important for him to take his IPL with confidence.”
The match, which was fielded by RCB, saw Punjab Kings (PBKS) get their batters started but none of them could make anything big of it. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan (45 in 37 balls with five fours and a six), Jitesh Sharma (27 in 20 balls with a four and two sixes) and Sam Curran (23 in 17 balls) played decent knocks, but to a batting friendly Chinnaswammy, PBKS could only muster 176/6 in 20 overs.
Mohammed Siraj (26/2) and Glenn Maxwell (29/2) took two scalps each. Yash Dayal and Alzarri Joseph took a wicket each.
Chasing 177, RCB continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, but Virat (77 in 49 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes) steadied the ship at the other end. After his dismissal, things became difficult for RCB, but finishes from Dinesh Karthik (28* in 10 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Mahipal Lomror (17* in eight balls, with two fours and a six) guided the team to a four-wicket win with four balls to spare.
Harpreet Brar (2/13) and Kagiso Rabada (2/23) were the pick of the bowlers for PBKS.
Virat was crowned ‘Player of the Match’
Topics mentioned in this article