Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has criticised Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for letting go of their most experienced and most successful bowler Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner who represented RCB for eight seasons was not retained before mega auctions. RCB did not even bid for Chahal as he was picked for Rs 6.5 crore by Rajasthan Royals (RR) after bidding war with three franchises.
“One of the greatest gifts in the history of the IPL is Chahal to the Rajasthan Royals. Absolutely no idea how Bangalore let him go. Always took the wickets, he was the bloke who kept them in the game,” said Pietersen while commentating during RR’s clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 19.
“Unbelievable that this bloke is now wearing pink. With the ball he was the most valuable asset for RCB,” he added.
Chahal is by far RCB's highest wicket-taker in IPL with 139 wickets to his name from 113 innings. He had an economy rate of 7.58 runs per over despite playing at M.Chinnasway Stadium which has short boundaries. Since joining Royals, he has taken 38 wickets already from 23 appearances at an average of 19.07 and an economy rate of 7.88 runs per over.
In the ongoing season, Chahal is a contender for Purple cap as he has 11 wickets from six matches already. He needs seven more wickets to dethrone former all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as highest wicket-taker of all-time in IPL history.
However, against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Chahal failed to make an impact. He conceded 41 runs from four overs in a low-scoring encounter at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur.
While commentating, Pietersen also criticised LSG skipper KL Rahul for lack of intent in the powerplay overs. Rahul scored a run-a-ball 19 during fielding restrictions including a maiden over against left-arm pacer Trent Boult. Pietersen was not impressed with Rahul’s strike rate which has been under the scanner of late in the format as the 42-year-old said, “Watching KL Rahul bat in the powerplays is the most boring thing I have ever been through."
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