IPL: Harsh call by selectors to drop Manish Pandey against DC, says Warner
Apr 26, 2021
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 26 : Following a heart-wrenching loss against Delhi Capitals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper David Warner said dropping Manish Pandey from the playing XI was a "harsh call".
Manish was dropped from the XI after the right-handed batsman failed to get going in the ongoing tournament. However, Warner backed youngster Virat Singh, who scored 4 off 14 balls against Delhi Capitals.
"It depends on the selectors, it was a harsh call as per my opinion (on leaving out Manish Pandey). But at the end of the day, it is a decision that they took and you cannot discredit Virat. He's a very good player and the surface was difficult," Warner told host broadcaster Star Sports.
Kane Williamson played an unbeaten knock of 66 but ran out of partners at the other end. However, a 14-run cameo from Jagadeesha Suchith took the match into a Super Over here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday evening. In the end, Delhi Capitals managed to chase eight runs in the Super Over to win the match.
"It has been a tough one. The way our bowlers came back after the powerplay was fantastic. We knew on this surface if you got off to a flier, it is always going to be tough in the middle, the bowlers executed well," said Warner.
"I thought Vijay, who is not one of our strike bowlers, bowled fantastically. We could have bowled him an extra one, that's the handiness of having him in the middle but the bowlers got us to a good total to chase. Obviously Jonny (Bairstow) at the top of the order and Kane taking it deep, we couldn't bat well in the middle overs," he stressed.
Warner was run out as SRH began the chase and the skipper only managed six runs off eight balls.
"They bowled well in the middle and made it challenging for us. If you hit the ball to a world-class fielder, you are going to get run out nine times out of 10," Warner said.
SRH are at the seventh spot in the points table with just two points from five matches. They will next take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
