David Miller skips post-match presentation after Kings XI Punjab loss

King XI Punjab suffered their fourth loss in five games after Mumbai Indians comprehensively beat them by 25 runs yesterday. After being set a target of 190 runs to chase, the Kings XI Punjab side put up an unsatisfactory show with the bat and lost the game without showing any fight. Shaun Marsh and Glen Maxwell showed great resilience but their efforts were not enough eventually.

Surprisingly, skipper David Miller skipped the post-match chat. Team coach Sanjay Bangar came to answer the questions. It is still unknown whether why Miller chose to skip the chat as there has been no official statement from the Kings XI franchise.

But, it is assumed that the slower ball from Jasprit Bumrah in the last over which hit Miller in rib-cage might have forced him to skip the presentation. Kings XI coach Sanjay Bangar attended the ceremony in his place.

At the post-match presentation, Sanjay Bangar said, “We bowled pretty poorly on this ground, conceding 25 boundaries was too much. 190 on such a big outfield was always going to be challenging. We lost a few of the 50-50 battles, there is no excuse for a poor bowling performance. Marsh is batting in really good nick, Maxwell getting over the 10 run barrier, Miller getting a few hits, those are the positives for us. We have a break of 5 days to regroup. We’ll come back fresh for the second phase of the tournament.”

Inconsistency has been the problem for the Punjab side at the moment. Bowlers look ineffective overall. Their openers seem to be losing touch. Their middle order is also inconsistent. Shaun Marsh has been the only proper run-getter for them this season. Maxwell’s return to form might excite the fans. Skipper David Miller, who has also struggled to get going with the bat, played a confidence boosting innings of 30 from 17 balls. The KXIP must find a way to get things together start afresh in the second half of the tournament.