IPL 2023: Gavaskar, Sehwag criticise Warner’s strike rate in failed run chase

IPL 2023: Targeting the 200 put up by Rajasthan Royals, David Warner scored 65 runs but did so in 55 balls. While most of his team crumbled around him, his slow strike rate caught the ire of Sehwag and Gavaskar.

Delhi Capitals David Warner plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals in Guwahati. (PT)I

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Former Indian cricketers Virender Sehwag and Sunil Gavaskar both criticised David Warner’s performance for the Delhi Capitals against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, where the Capitals were let down by a poor chase against the Royals’ total of 199.

Warner may have scored 65 runs, but it was at a strike rate of 118.18. The next best score for the Capitals was a 24-ball 38 from Lalit Yadav. But both Sehwag and Gavaskar trained their guns on the efficiency of Warner’s innings.

“I feel it is time that we tell him in English now so that Warner listens to it and feels hurt. David, if you are listening, please play well. Score 50 in 25 balls. Learn from Jaiswal, he hit his fifty in 25 balls. If you cannot do that, do not come and play in the IPL,” Sehwag said. “It would have been better for the team if David Warner got out for 30 runs, rather than making 55-60. Players like Rovman Powell and Ishan Porel could have come out much earlier and maybe could have done anything. No balls were left for those players, and they are big hitters in the team,” he added.

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Gavaskar was also critical of the Aussie left-hander and said that he needed to take responsibility for this loss based on the way he chose to bat in this innings.

“If you are dismissed for 8 off 8, one can say okay he couldn’t find that rhythm. But you are the captain here, you have that experience. They showed that he was the fastest to 6000 IPL runs so you can never imagine him playing these knocks. David Warner would have been retired hurt by Delhi Capitals if he was not their captain. If this was a young Indian player, his tournament would have been over. It would have been his last match. Warner has to take responsibility for this loss,” he said.

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