Virender Sehwag explains why Manish Pandey struggled to finish the game against KKR

Veteran Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag disclosed why Manish Pandey struggled to take his team home. Sunrisers Hyderabad played their opening match of IPL 2021 against KKR in Chennai. David Warner & Co. lost by ten runs as they finished on 177/5, chasing 188 to win. Manish Pandey scored an unbeaten 61, but still, the knock did not turn out to be a match-winning one.

Asked to bat first, Eoin Morgan and team posted a decent total of 187/6 in 20 overs on the back of Nitish Rana's 56-ball 80. Rahul Tripathi (53 off 29 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (22* off nine balls) also made crucial contributions with the willow. For Hyderabad, Rashid Khan was the star bowler, picking up two wickets and conceding 24 runs in his four overs. Mohammad Nabi also gathered a couple of wickets by giving away 32 runs.

The biggest setback was that Pandey could not find the boundaries in the death overs: Virender Sehwag

In response to KKR’s innings, Sunrisers lost both their opening batsman, Wriddhiman Saha (7) and David Warner (3), cheaply. The duo of Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow formed a crucial partnership and bailed the team out of trouble. However, Australian pacer Pat Cummins broke the partnership by dismissing Bairstow (55 off 44 balls). SRH's innings lost the plot after that. While Manish Pandey held the one end firmly, he couldn't keep the required run-rate in check.

England wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow scored an attacking 55 and added 93 with Manish Pandey. However, the latter slowed down after Jonny Bairstow's dismissal. Discussing his innings, Retired Indian opener Virender Sehwag opined that Pandey got well settled but couldn't find the suitable delivery to hit. In a conversation with Cricbuzz, Sehwag reckoned the most significant setback was that Manish Pandey could not find the boundaries in the death overs. He stated that the batsman allowed the run rate to spike up.

Sehwag believes that if Pandey had got the edges, SRH would have won the tournament opener. However, he also pointed out that KKR bowlers didn't give Pandey enough balls in his hitting range, keeping him quiet in the death overs. Manish Pandey will get a chance to retrieve himself on April 14 when SRH takes on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai.

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