‘Quinton de Kock is a Quality batter, but Kyle Mayers..’: Krunal Pandya Reveals Why He Benched Proteas Star

Lucknow Super Giants suffered a dramatic batting collapse with Mumbai Indians registering a dominating 81-run win in the IPL Eliminator to qualify for the second Qualifier.

Following Lucknow’s disappointing performance with the bat, questions were raised regarding the decision to sideline Quinton de Kock in the big clash. Asked about the topic during the post-match interaction, Lucknow’s stand-in captain Krunal Pandya said that de Kock was replaced by Kyle Mayers in the playing eleven as the West Indies batter has a better record in Chennai.

“It was always a tough decision. Quinton de Kock is a quality batter, but Kyle Mayers has a better record here, so we went ahead with him,” Krunal said.

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Kayle Mayers had a memorable outing when he last time batted against Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk. The Caribbean power-hitter put up a 22-ball 53, albeit for a losing cause.

Taking that blistering inning into account, the Lucknow team management chose to replace Mayers with Quinton de Kock in the opening slots.

The decision didn’t click as Mayers managed to survive just 13 deliveries against Mumbai and produced a score of 18 runs. De Kock has spent most of the season at the dugout and was called up in the playing eleven after skipper KL Rahul was ruled out of the tournament due to an unfortunate injury. In his 4 appearances thus far, the South African batter put up 143 runs at an impressive 140-plus strike rate.

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During the post-match conversation, skipper Krunal Pandya took the entire blame on himself for Lucknow’s humiliating defeat. The Indian all-rounder, who came in to bat at No 3, looked quite pale and managed only 8 runs off 11 balls. He tool the decision to take down Mumbai spinner Piyush Chawla and ended up losing his wicket to a slower delivery. Krunal Pandya said, “I guess everything started where I played that shot and I completely take full responsibility.”

“Indeed, we ought to have played better cricket there given the circumstances, but the shot I took was not on. I am entirely responsible for where we ended up,” Krunal added. Following the captain’s wicket, no batter could spark hope for Lucknow’s victory. In the end, they were bundled out for 101 runs with 21 balls in hand.