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Indian Premier League (IPL) commentator and cricket pundit Simon Doull made yet another jibe at a batter taking his time to reach a personal milestone when he expressed his disappointment at Shubman Gill not retiring despite being unable to play the big shots.
He also said that hard-hitters like Rahul Tewatia could be promoted to help bolster their team's score even further.
“Shubman was getting tired. He wasn’t able to hit the boundaries as much as he could. And it can happen. Listen…it might be controversial, but I am waiting for the day when a bloke gets 75 or 80 off 45 balls and is cooked after the afternoon heat which is 45 degrees and hence quite can’t get there so he says ‘Okay Tewatia, you are out there.’ Retire him out,” Doull said, talking to Cricbuzz.
“I am saying time and time again, milestones don’t matter in this game. I know people will still say hundred is a hundred. Yes it is, but it’s a hundred if you win. If you lose, it means jack. I feel were just quite there when a guy says that he is tired and is not able to hit the boundaries. And if you have ammunition in the bank then why not use it,” he added.
This comes after the former New Zealand cricketer levelled criticism against the likes of Babar Azam and more recently, Virat Kohli. During the match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the Kohli remained unbeaten on 42 runs off 25 balls after the end of the powerplay. But then, he took 10 balls to get to his half-century, something that left the commentator unimpressed.
Doull said that batters should not play for 'personal milestones. "Virat Kohli took 10 balls to reach from 42 to 50. There is absolutely no room for personal milestones in this game anymore," Doull said during the commentary on Star Sports.
In March, Doull also lashed out at Babar Azam during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023. Babar scored a hundred against the Quetta Gladiators while captaining Peshawar Zalmi.
“The last little while, that [hitting singles] is all that has been happening rather than looking for boundaries still, when you’ve got so much firepower to come,” he said. “Hundreds are great, stats are brilliant, but it still must be team first.”
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