'At least respect the delivery if you can't respect the bowler' - Virender Sehwag slams Rohit, Suryakumar after dismal show against KKR

Virender Sehwag voiced his criticism for Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav after the two experienced batters had forgettable outings with the bat at Eden Gardens during Mumbai Indians' 18-run defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, May 11.

The rain-curtailed 16-over-per-side contest saw the Knight Riders scoring 157/7 after being asked to bat first. In reply, the visitors got off to a brisk start inside the powerplay, as Ishan Kishan hit a fluent 40 off 22 balls. However, his opening partner, Rohit, struggled to find his timing and eventually departed for a 24-ball 19. He tried to play a sweep shot to Varun Chakaravarthy but failed to execute it to perfection. The Indian captain only managed a top-edge that was taken at short fine leg.

Suryakumar also couldn't get going and was dismissed by Andre Russell for a 14-ball 11. He tried to pull a slower short ball from outside off-stump but couldn't establish a proper connection and was caught at deep square. Both the experienced Indian batters went back after playing knocks at strike rates of less than 100.

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Former India opener Sehwag criticised the way the two players got out, especially Rohit. The Nawab of Najafgarh said that it is important to keep ego outside the field and respect the good balls in testing conditions.

“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 told Cricbuzz.

"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 boundaries. 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,” Sehwag said further.

Also Read: 'We haven't played enough good cricket' - Hardik Pandya speaks about MI's dismal season, analyses defeat vs KKR

Rohit had a promising start to IPL 2024 and also scored a century against Chennai Super Kings earlier on in the campaign. However, his performances of late have been quite disappointing and it isn't a good sign for the Indian fans as the right-handed batter is set to lead the Men in Blue at next month's T20 World Cup.

Mumbai Indians suffered their ninth loss in 13 matches and they continue to stay at No. 9 on the points table. Meanwhile, the Knights qualified for the playoffs on the back of their win against the five-time champions. Shreyas Iyer and Co. are placed at the top of the table with 18 points from 12 games.