Mohammad Kaif has criticised the Punjab Kings (PBKS) for retiring well-set Atharva Taide during their IPL 2023 match against the Delhi Capitals (DC).
After being asked to bat first at Dharamsala, the Capitals set a massive 214-run target for PBKS. Taide struck a 42-ball 55. Shikhar Dhawan and company went on to lose the match by 15 runs which ended their playoff hopes.
Kaif was questioned about his opinion on Punjab Kings’ decision to retire Taide during a post-match chat on Star Sports. He criticised the decision, citing Rinku Singh and Rahul Tewatia as examples, saying:
“Extremely poor decision to ask him to come out. Why do you talk about Rinku Singh and Tewatia? Rinku Singh was a run-a-ball at the start and Tewatia was on 13 off 21 balls. They hit five sixes after that.”
“He (Taide) was scoring at a strike rate of 130 and was a set batter alongside Liam Livingstone. Livingstone was playing fast and he (Taide) was performing his role. He is an uncapped player who was hitting fours and sixes.”
Taide hit five fours and two sixes in his 55-run outing. After PBKS lost their openers, he put on a 78-run third-wicket stand with Livingstone (94 off 48).
Mohammad Kaif on the incoming Punjab Kings batters not firing
Mohammad Kaif commented that all of the arriving Punjab Kings batsmen were removed cheaply:
“He had gotten his eye in and you asked him to come out when it was the time to hit sixes. Very bad decision because who came after that – Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan and Sam Curran – all of them came and got out. If the decision had been good, I would have praised them.”
He finished by saying that such a strategy has rarely produces the desired results:
“If you check the stats, whenever such a thing has been done that a set batter has been asked to come out, how many times has the new batter won the match? Show me the stats, I will concede defeat.”
Irfan Pathan added that if a batsman like Livingstone had been waiting in the dugout, he would have agreed with the Punjab Kings’ decision. Taide might not have been as damaging as England’s great batter, but that no such batter was available.
