Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan takes a jibe at commentator Harsha Bhogle following “anchor batter” comment. Dhawan’s rollicking 99 off 66 balls could not help Punjab Kings win their IPL game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. They lost the match by eight wickets.
“Shikhar Dhawan’s innings will raise, should raise, the question of whether you can have an anchor batter, especially in these conditions,” Bhogle tweeted on April 5.
“You can appear to have increased your strike rate by the end, but the 30 balls at run-a-ball can hurt.”
When the PBKS skipper was asked about his fighting knock at the post-match presentation.
“I hope you were happy with my strike rate as you tweeted something. I can bowl googlies as well!,” Dhawan said after the match.
Dhawan slammed a 66-ball 99 not out to carry the Punjab team on his shoulders as the other batters cut a sorry figure after being asked to take first strike.
“As a batting unit, we lost too many wickets back to back and couldn’t put up a big total on the ground and because of that we lost the game. 175-180 would have been a reasonable score. The wicket looked quite good but it was seaming and swinging,” Dhawan said at the post-match presentation.
On his sensational innings, Dhawan, who was adjudged the player of the match, said: “I didn’t expect I will reach there at the end of the day but I was playing according to the situation, still keeping positive…
“Of course it was disappointing (seeing wickets keep falling) but the way we thought the wicket was going to play, it was playing differently. It was seaming and sometimes keeping low. But that’s a learning process for my batting unit and that’s fine.
“I’m very very grateful for 99 because I never thought I’d reach there so I’m very happy.”
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