Former India opener Virender Sehwag, who is known for his ability to dispatch the ball from the word go, came down hard at his ex-IPL franchise Punjab Kings.
Sehwag blamed the Punjab Kings’ environment in 2014-15 when he was plying trade with the franchise. The fierce Indian opener-turned-commentator said that the team environment got the better of him which became one of the crucial reason behind his decrease in strike rate.
“Jab mein Punjab mein gaya tab mera strike rate gir gaya. Woh kehte hai na ke jaisi sangati waisa behave karte ho. Toh waha ki sangati waisi hi thi. Jeet te the nahi, khel te acha the nahi, toh mera game aur thoda kharab ho gaya (When I went to Punjab, my strike rate went down. There’s a saying you behave like your company. Same was the case. They did not win anything or played well),” Sehwag said while speaking on Star Sports.
— Bravo 2.0 (@MrCricket183) March 25, 2024
The Delhi batter has featured for three franchises — Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings, and Delhi Capitals — during his time in the lucrative tournament. He amassed 455 runs in 17 matches during IPL 2014 at a strike rate over 144.
However, his strike rate came down to 117 in his final year of the lucrative tournament in 2015, where he scored 99 runs in eight matches with the highest score of 47.