DC vs PBKS: Bhanuka Rajapaksa Will Give More Balance To Punjab Kings Than Odean Smith: Graeme Smith
IPL 2022: Former South Africa captain, Graeme Smith is of the view that Bhanuka Rajapaksa should find his way back on the Punjab Kings side in place of Odean Smith.
Smith started the tournament with a player of the match performance but has struggled since both with the bat and the ball.
Odean Smith Has Flattered To Deceive: Graeme Smith
Smith was bought for 6 crores by PBKS, but apart from the first game where he as scored 8 ball 25 against Royal Challengers Bangalore to help his team chase down a big target, he has been very poor with the bat. He has only scored 26 runs since then with a below-par average of 8.67.
In bowling as well he has not been consistent enough, he got hit for 2 sixes of consecutive balls when Gujarat Titans needed 12 runs off the last two balls.
“Odean Smith hasn’t been able to set the tournament on fire. You are getting into the stage of the competition where you don’t want to be chopping and changing your combination, but with the inconsistency that Punjab have shown and not all the players have put their hands up, they have got to look at the options that can strengthen the team. And I like the option of Rajapaksa. If he can add that value of a left-hander, Punjab will be a lot more balanced,” Smith was quoted as saying to Cricket.com.
Rajapaksa played three games for PBKS, he might not have scored a lot of runs but he always came with all guns blazing as he scored his runs at a strike rate of 230.55.
Since Jonny Bairstow joined the squad, Rajapaksa had to make way for the Englishman.
It remains to be seen if Rajapaksa gets another game or not.
