'You weren’t a bowler out there' - Shane Warne hits out at Harsha Bhogle on his latest tweet about RR-KXIP game

KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), after decimating Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their previous encounter, locked horns with Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the ninth match of IPL 2020. The Punjab side, undeniably, has been one of the most impressive franchises of this year’s IPL.

Two of their strong points so far have been the form of their top-order Karnataka stalwarts– skipper Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. While Agarwal amassed an impressive 89-run knock in KXIP’s first match, Rahul slammed a blistering ton in their subsequent game against RCB.

As expected, the Mayank-Rahul duo decimated Royals’ bowling force too. They stitched a colossal 183-run opening partnership. Mayank was on song as he smashed his maiden IPL ton in just 45 deliveries, paving his way into the fastest centuries by Indian players. In the course of his blistering 106-run carnage, Mayank slammed the second-fastest IPL ton by an Indian.

Rahul also kept hitting boundaries from the other end while continuing his stellar form. Scoring 69 off 54 deliveries, the KXIP skipper flaunted his batting expertise and assisted Agarwal very well.

The pair’s fireworks steered the Punjab side to a dominant 223-run total at Sharjah. Both the Karnataka lads weaved the third-highest opening stand in IPL history. Twitter, in no time, was flooded with tweets applauding the batting brilliance of the pair.

The ground never seemed so small in the 90s: Harsha Bhogle

Harsha Bhogle also heaped praise on the duo and pointed out their ‘quality batting’ at Sharjah. Bhogle also mentioned that the ground never seemed so small in the 90s. “This isn’t just slogging. Quality batting. The ground never seemed so small when we were covering cricket there in the 90s!!” tweeted Bhogle.

However, contradicting Bhogle’s statement, former RR player and current mentor Shane Warne responded back sharply. Warne wrote, “Yes it did to the players mate. You weren’t a bowler out there – hard work !!!”

The conversation didn’t end there as Bhogle further came up with stats and said– “The approach was different then though. In 108 innings in ODI cricket in the 90s, average total was 227!”

But Warne still stuck to his views and mentioned that teams had better bowling forces in their arsenal back then. He also pointed out that the game isn’t over for RR yet. “Stats don’t tell the truth. Better bowlers back then from all countries and completely different pitch! Anyway, the @rajasthanroyals are still in this! 210 is a par score,” wrote Warne.

Royals, in their pursuit of a challenging 224-run target, have started off impressively despite losing Jos Buttler cheaply. The in-form pair of Sanju Samson and Steve Smith have steered RR to a daunting 69/1 at the end of first six overs of the Powerplay.