Twitterati slam Anil Kumble for allegedly showing bias towards Karnataka players in KXIP’s defeat against MI

On Thursday, October 1, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) slumped to their third defeat in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). KL Rahul and Co went down to the Mumbai Indians (MI) by 48 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The defeat pushed the Mohali-based franchise to sixth in the points table even as Rohit Sharma’s men became the new table-toppers of the league.

KXIP did reasonably well after winning the toss and putting MI into bat first. Their bowlers didn’t allow the Mumbai batters to get away with the game. However, Rohit Sharma’s 70 followed by Kieron Pollard’s 47* and Hardik Pandya’s 30* lifted MI to a substantial score of 191 for the loss of four wickets. In their run-chase, Punjab started handsomely, scoring 33 in their first three overs.

But there was a momentum shift afterwards. Once Rahul and Mayank Agarwal perished, KXIP lost their way. Though Nicholas Pooran threatened with a 27-ball 44, he didn’t get much support from the other end. Krishnappa Gowtham scored 22 off 13 in the death overs, but that was only to mitigate the damage. In the end, KXIP ended their innings on 143 for eight in 20 overs.

KXIP head coach slammed

In the meantime, Anil Kumble, KXIP’s head coach, has been slammed for allegedly backing more Karnataka cricketers in the playing eleven. While, fans didn’t question Rahul and Agarwal’s selections, they couldn’t comprehend Karun Nair and Gowtham getting chances. Nair had an off-day as he couldn’t open his account off three balls. Krunal Pandya castled him to cut short his stay.

Gowtham had his fair share of troubles as well. He picked up the crucial wicket of Ishan Kishan, but went for quite a few with his off-breaks. In his first three overs, he gave only 20 runs and looked good, but then the skipper gave him the responsibility to bowl the last over and the gamble didn’t pay off.

He started with a dot, but then Hardik and Pollard took him to the cleaners, hitting him for four sixes. Gowtham conceded 25 runs in the final over and ended with figures of 4-0-45-1. The netizens also reckoned that Mandeep Singh should have gotten a chance.

Here’s how the netizens reacted: –

Agree. Karnataka and ex-RCB! What wrong has @mandeeps12 done not to play ahead of Karun Nair

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) October 1, 2020

Karun nair is in team only bcos of Karnataka Quota of Rahul and Kumble #KXIvsMI #ipl2020

— Anjanish Tripathi (@Aryansrkian) October 1, 2020

Karnataka quota pick from Kumble only reasoning I can find.

— Prashanth🏏📝 (@ps_it_is) October 1, 2020

@lionsdenkxip one more season washout? Kumble can't think beyond playing superflop Karnataka players like Karun and Gowtham, Rahul can't captain to save his life, not trusted to captain Ranji team, he is given an international side.Wake up guys before the season is over.

— SANJIT PAUL SINGH (@SANJITPAULSINGH) October 1, 2020

Only reason Kumble not dropping Karun nair because he's from Karnataka 🤷🏾‍♂️

— Sadhu RCB (@SadhuMaharaj16) October 1, 2020

Is it true Nair only plays under Kumble because he's from Karnataka

— Ram LIHC (@edgbaston_149) October 1, 2020

Kumble and Rahul getting the gifts of imposing Karnataka Kota over talented youngsters in #KXIP @lionsdenkxip#ipl2020 @vikrantgupta73 @manoj_dimri

— Harsh Raj (@harsh_rajs) October 1, 2020

Please its time admit, Kumble has messed up. Over confident. Who would chose karun najr who has been a major failure in IPL ahead of Mandeep and Hooda? Because Karnataka? And what a worst bowling combination m, not 1 death'bowler. Kumble messed up big time

— Sidharth Raj (@Sidhart28880620) October 1, 2020

Even though iam from Karnataka I totally agree to your point and moreover there's no punjabi flavour left in the KXIP team.Even RCB had played Mandeep regularly. Mandeep far far better than overrated karun nair

— Dhanush Athikari (@dannynsboy) October 1, 2020

Agreed with you. It's time to sack Kumble and make Andy Flower as their head coach

— Jaganath (@jaganath841) October 1, 2020