IPL 2017: Virender Sehwag blames 'inconsistent' Glenn Maxwell for KXIP's ouster

Pune, May 14: Kings XI Punjab's cricket operations director Virender Sehwag came out all guns blazing against skipper Glenn Maxwell and foreign players for team's ouster from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017.

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While addressing the press conference after Punjab's shambolic 9-wicket defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant in the virtual knockout game for making it to the playoffs, Sehwag felt none of other foreign players batted responsibly in a must win game.

"I am really disappointed with this loss (against RPS). None of the foreign players took the responsibility and played till 12-15 overs. Their role was that at least one of the four foreign players should have stayed at the crease till 12-15 overs but none of the batsmen took the responsibility."

(Video of the interview at the bottom of the story)

Sehwag also slammed his team's batsmen for blaming the wicket instead of playing some time at the crease.

"I think they were complaining that the wicket was on the slower side but they all have played so much international cricket then you should get used to playing on all kinds of surface whether good or bad," he added further.

"There are very rare occasions when you get a very good wicket to bat on. But whatever wicket you get, you at least (try) to play 20 overs for your team."

Sehwag wasn't pleased with the performances of senior players like Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan and Maxwell.

"Martin Guptill and Eoin Morgan were the most experienced players but none of them batted well, so I was very disasppointed. It happens in the game, because I thought the way we fought back against Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders we should have done well against Pune as well," rued the former India cricketer.

Sehwag felt his team missed Hashim Amla the most because he was a very consistent performer for them.

"I feel Hashim Amla's absence hurt us. He is a seasoned campainer and knows how to build his innings. He played some great knocks in the tournament and every player in the team should learn the way he built his innings for he hardly took any risks in the first ten overs.

"No Indian player too took the responsibility when the foreign players couldn't perform in the tournament. Barring (Wriddhiman) Saha and Manan (Vohra), who played one good innings each, no Indian player performed well," he added further.

Talking about Maxwell's contribution for the team he said, "We wanted more players to step in and take reponsibility, but nobody really came forward. We knew Glenn Maxwell is match winner and he's capable of winning us the game single-handedly, but he too wasn't consistent. He too couldn't perform for us in 7-8 games despite playing for Australia in all three formats. He too failed to lead the side by example."

On KXIP's season over all Sehwag felt it was a better one than the previous season but the team could have been through to the playoffs if their batsmen were a bit more consistent.

Pune on Sunday outclassed Punjab by 9 wickets after restricting the latter to 73 in their final league game. With this win, Pune cemented their position in the IPL 10 playoffs.

Watch the video here.

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