"At least respect the delivery if you can't respect the bowler" - Virender Sehwag slams Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav for tame dismissals vs KKR

Former Indian batter Virender Sehwag slammed the Mumbai Indians (MI) duo of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav for their inept batting displays and subsequent dismissals against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens on May 11. Chasing 158 in a rain-curtailed 16-over contest, MI got off to the perfect start at 65/0 in the 7th over.

However, Rohit's struggles with the bat continued as he perished trying to play a sweep shot against the impressive Varun Chakaravarthy for a 24-ball 19. A few overs later, MI's ace batter Suryakumar Yadav looked to fetch a delivery from Andre Russell outside the off-stump onto the leg-side, only to find the deep square leg fielder. He was dismissed for 11 off 14.

The duo's painstaking vigils and dismissals proved costly as MI suffered an 18-run defeat. The loss was the team's ninth in 13 outings of a dismal IPL 2024 campaign.

Speaking to Cricbuzz post-game, Sehwag blasted Rohit and Surya for a lack of respect for the good deliveries, resulting in their demise.

"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," said Sehwag.

He added:

"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 bowl anyway; if they played out the spinners and didn't lose the wickets, they would've won the game."

While Surya has been in good form with the bat, averaging over 38 at a strike rate of almost 170 this season, Rohit has endured another poor run. The former MI skipper has averaged only 29.08 at a strike rate of 145.41 in 13 games.

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"You can't have an ego when you come out to bat" - Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag further criticized the duo of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav by stating that MI would have won the game if they played out the spinners and attacked at the end.

Tilak Varma (32 off 17) and Naman Dhir (17 off 6) tried to produce a miracle towards the end of the run-chase, but the task was beyond their reach.

"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 five balls for boundaries," Sehwag said.

With their playoff hopes already done and dusted, MI will play for pride in their final game of IPL 2024 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Friday, May 17.