'I would have retired him earlier in the game' - Former Indian cricketer lashes out at Atharva Taide for his slow innings against DC in IPL 2023

Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 64th match of the Indian Premier League 2023 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Wednesday, May 18 by 15 runs and have made it difficult for the Shikhar Dhawan-led side to get a place in the playoffs.

PBKS were chasing a monument target of 213 runs but didn’t have a great start however, later Liam Livingstone and Atharva Taide got PBKS back into the game but Taide failed to accelerate and had to retire out on the score of 55 runs off 42 balls which included 5 fours and 2 sixes. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag lashed out at Taide and said that he wasted few deliveries even after smashing a half-century.

“I would have retired him earlier in the game. If he’d have scored 70 off 42 balls, Punjab would have won the game. I would have asked him to retire earlier or to fake an injury and retire hurt instead of retiring out, as Krunal Pandya did for LSG. If you’ve retired hurt, you can come back to bat if needed, but you cannot return if you’re retired out. If instead of retiring after facing 42 deliveries, he would have retired after 36 balls, someone else could have scored probably 15 runs in those 6 deliveries.” Sehwag was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

It should not hurt your ego to retire in order to help your team: Virender Sehwag

After PBKS' tactical move of making Taide retire out it looked like the upcoming batters would do the remaining job but that didn’t happen as Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran, and Shahrukh Khan couldn’t produce anything special, and the entire responsibility was put on Livingstone’s shoulder, he tried hard but failed. However, Sehwag also added that PBKS batters miscalculated the chase.

“Punjab miscalculated it a little. Every batter wants to score as many runs as possible in the least amount of deliveries. But if you’re not in the groove, it should not hurt your ego to retire in order to help your team, you will get the chance to show what you’re capable of in some other game down the line.”