Punjab Kings were torn apart by Lucknow Super Giants batters© BCCI/Sportzpics
No matter what is the reputation of the player, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull doesn’t belive in mincing his words when doing commentary. Having criticised top players like Babar Azam and Virat Kohli in the past, Doull took a swipe at South Africa and Punjab Kings pacer Kagiso Rabada during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Friday. Doull, who was commentating during the match, slammed Rabada for his ‘unacceptable behaviour’ as the express pacer bowled a couple of no-balls by overstepping during the match against Lucknow Super Giants.
“This is unacceptable behaviour. You’re an international bowler. He’s pushing it all the time, even when he is behind he is just there by an inch,” Doull said live on-air.
Doull’s comments came when Rabada overstepped for the second time in the match against LSG. It was the fifth ball of the 16th over when the Proteas pacer bowled a no-ball. His next ball was a wide, much to the disappointment of Doull and PBKS fans. However, the following delivery only resulted in a single.
Punjab Kings went on to concede a whopping 257 runs, the second-highest innings total in IPL history, in the match against Lucknow Super Giants. After the game, PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan admitted that the bowlers gave away too many runs for the batters to chase.
“We gave away too many runs. I felt that it (ball) didn’t come on quickly to the bat and it went straight to the fielder (on his dismissal). I felt my strategy to play with the extra bowler backfired. We missed a spinner today. It’s a learning for me. Livi (Livingstone) and even Sam (Curran) were there, so we couldn’t send him (SRK) ahead,” he said after the match.
Rabada, despite being a world-class bowler, conceded 52 runs in 4 overs while picking two wickets.
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