AB de Villiers rips apart Shikhar Dhawan for poor captaincy against RCB

Ab de Villiers was not satisfied with the way Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan managed the overs of South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada during their 4-wicket loss last night. Punjab had a very good chance of securing their 2nd consecutive win in IPL 2024 and top the points table but the Royal Challengers Bengaluru were able to win the game in the final over.

One of the main reasons behind the loss, according to AB de Villiers was, Shikhar Dhawan not keeping a single over left for Kagiso Rabada to bowl in the final 4 overs of the match. Those final 5 overs were the most crucial parts of the game and it was that phase when RCB snatched the game away from Punjab’s hands otherwise, the visitors were mostly on top.

Kagiso Rabada, who was very important for Punjab in the early phases of the 2nd innings, was bowled out entirely before the 15th over for the first time in his IPL career. That indeed was a huge mistake made by Dhawan, given the fact that Rabada is a lethal asset in terms of claiming wickets on the go.

AB de Villiers says Kagiso Rabada was desperately needed in those final overs

After the RCB claimed the 4-wicket win over Punjab, Ab de Villiers, while speaking to Jio Cinema after the match, claimed that Kagiso Rabada was needed in those final 4 overs. AB de Villiers expressed his disagreement with Dhawan in that regard and affirmed that his former Proteas teammate could have changed the complexion of the game.

But one can’t also blame Shikhar Dhawan because, in the middle overs, Punjab’s bowling unit was being taken to the cleaners by Virat Kohli and the visitors desperately needed a wicket. That’s when Dhawan decided to bring Kagiso Rabada back for his final overs with a hope of getting Kohli out but that didn’t work out at all.

Kagiso Rabada had to remain satisfied with the 2 wickets of Faf du Plessis and Cameron Green which he picked up early on in the game. The speedster was the main reason why Punjab went off to a good start in their unsuccessful defense of 177 while Harshal Patel, Harpreet Brar, and Sam Curran scalped early wickets. The only phase where Punjab fell behind was in the final 4 overs where their bowlers were cleaned up by Dinesh Karthik and Mahipal Lomror’s blisters.

“I wasn’t at the comms at the time but the moment this happened, I thought yeah it was a mistake. I didn’t agree with the decision at all. RCB were going well so you knew this match would go to the end and KG was needed there. Maybe if Rahul had bowled well, Punjab could have kept Rabada for the death overs.” – Ab de Villiers said via Jio Cinema. 

Punjab Kings to travel to Lucknow for their next match

Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada will have a chance to place the Purple cap on his head for the first time in IPL 2024 in Punjab Kings’ next match in Lucknow against KL Rahul’s Super Giants on Saturday, March 30.