Alex Hales gets engaged in a banter with the former England Test cricketer

England were handed a royal pasting by Team India in the first T20 International at the Old Trafford in Manchester. They were first bamboozled by the mysterious spin-bowling of Kuldeep Yadav and then were literally stunned by the brilliance of KL Rahul. Despite Jos Buttler continuing his blazing form, the other batsmen failed to support him. Alex Hales was one of those who couldn’t get going and wasted a lot of deliveries which shelved the momentum gained by the openers in the powerplay.

Hales came in to bat in the sixth over after the duo of Jason Roy and Buttler had added 50 runs only in 5 overs. But he struggled to time the ball and played a lot of dot balls while facing the likes of Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep. The former foxed him with the variations up his sleeve and eked out 4 dot balls which started mounting the pressure on him. Moreover, the introduction of the spinner from the other end didn’t help his cause and could only score 8 runs off 18 deliveries during his painful stay in the middle.

Hales responds to the criticism

Mike Selvey, the former England cricketer and now a writer, came down hard at Alex Hales for his slow inning in Manchester and felt that the captain Eoin Morgan should have retired out him instead of waiting for him to get out. “When a batsman is so clearly floundering in T20, as was Hales, the captain should retire him not wait till he gets out, which would waste one ball and a potential six runs,” he wrote in his tweet.

However, Hales was not impressed with his remarks and retorted to the same by reminding him that the new man who comes out also takes the time to get settled. “What if the next two balls are 6,4 or 6,6? Remember the new man also starts his innings from scratch,” his response read.

Selvey tried to explain his point of view then in a proper manner but Hales was adamant on his comment and stressed that every batsman at the international level in the shortest format of the game is proven boundary hitters.

Here’s the thread of the convo:

When a batsman is so clearly floundering in T20, as was Hales, captain should retire him not wait til he gets out, which would waste one ball and a potential six runs.

— mike selvey (@selvecricket) July 4, 2018

What if the next two balls are 6,4 or 6,6? Remember the new man also starts his innings from scratch

— Alex Hales (@AlexHales1) July 4, 2018

What if they aren't ? No reflection on your ability. We all have bad days. No different to flexible order.

— mike selvey (@selvecricket) July 4, 2018

In my experience of t20 a guy who’s faced 15 balls will usually accelerate his innings at a faster rate than a new man at the crease. Everyone at it20 level are proven boundary hitters so do you back them to catch up after having a look or ask a new person to go 464 straight away

— Alex Hales (@AlexHales1) July 4, 2018

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