IPL 2020: 'Krunal Pandya reminded Siddarth Kaul why he was on the bench till now and may not play going forward' - Virender Sehwag
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has opined that Krunal Pandya's blistering assault on Siddarth Kaul may make the latter lose his place in the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) playing XI for the upcoming matches of IPL 2020.
He made this observation while reviewing the Mumbai Indians' victory against the Hyderabad-based franchise in a video shared on his Facebook page.
Virender Sehwag mentioned that both the teams seemed to be trying to fritter away their chances initially after Rohit Sharma made the correct decision of opting to bat first.
"Rohit Sharma won the toss and took the right decision to bat first in the blistering heat. But after that, the players from both teams began treating each other like a newly dating couple, giving gifts to one another."
Virender Sehwag elaborated that while Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav gave away away their wickets to loose deliveries, Manish Pandey had helped the Mumbai Indians' cause by dropping Quinton de Kock. The South African opener went on to lay a strong foundation for the MI innings.
"First Rohit and Surya got out to horrible balls, so Pandey returned the favour by dropping De Kock's catch. De Kock made the most of this gift and started preparing Mumbai's rocket launcher."
Virender Sehwag showered praise on Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers for taking the Mumbai Indians' score beyond the 200-run mark.
"Then the scientist Pollard, Kung Fu Pandya and his brother Krunal successfully launched the rocket and took the score past 200."
The 41-year-old even opined that the hammering Siddarth Kaul received from Krunal Pandya's willow might have made the former realise why he had not been picked by SRH so far in the IPL. He added that Kaul's participation in the upcoming matches of the tournament has been put in jeopardy.
"Krunal reminded Siddarth Kaul why he was on the bench and may not play going forward."
Virender Sehwag's take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad chase
![Virender Sehwag picked Trent Boult as the star performer for MI with the ball [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2020/10/1ab65-16018841632650-800.jpg)
Virender Sehwag observed that the Sunrisers Hyderabad required David Warner and Jonny Bairstow to fire with the bat to overhaul the massive score put up by the Mumbai Indians.
"This score was impossible without the fight put up by The Rock Warner and Undertaker Bairstow."
He pointed out that the Mumbai Indians bowlers rose to the occasion, and was effusive in in his praise for Trent Boult. The Kiwi left-armer picked up the important wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson.
"But yesterday belonged to Mumbai's pace bowlers. Special credit goes to Boult. He dismissed the 2 biggies Bairstow and Williamson."
Virender Sehwag mentioned that James Pattinson finished the match as a contest by scalping the wicket of Warner, who was fighting a lone battle for SRH.
"How long would Warner have fought alone? He was fed humble pie by Pattinson and the match was over then itself."
Virender Sehwag signed off by stating that Manish Pandey, unlike Quinton de Kock, could not make the best use of the let-off given to him and could not come up with a big score.
"One important point, like De Kock, fortune smiled on Pandey too. He was in good form too, but was still unable to capitalise."
Manish Pandey was dropped by Hardik Pandya at deep point, with the ball even going for a boundary. But the Karnataka batsman could add only 10 more runs to his tally after this lucky escape, as he gave an easy catch to Kieron Pollard at long-off of James Pattinson's bowling.
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