IPL 2023: 'Why talk about him? He shouldn't...' - Kris Srikkanth slams star Indian batter during DC-KKR tie

Delhi Capitals (DC) finally got off the mark in IPL 2023 when they beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match 28 on Thursday (April 21). In a rain-delayed encounter, DC opted to bowl first and rode on two wickets each from Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel to dismiss KKR for 127 in 19.2 overs.

In reply, DC were tested by the KKR spinners -- with skipper Nitish Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy and Anukul Roy taking two scalps each -- but got over the line in the final over, with four wickets and equal number of balls to spare. From DC, David Warner once again top-scored with a 41-ball 57 whereas Axar Patel finished things off with a 22-ball 19.

While bowlers set it up for DC, Warner and Axar led the charge with the bat with contribution from Manish Pandey as well. Nonetheless, the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Mitchell Marsh continued to remain poor. Talking about Pandey, the discarded Indian batter has also coped up with criticism for his strike rate issues. So far, he has scored94 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 121.

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Pandey has not had an extra ordinary run in the IPL for quite some time. In the last three seasons, he strike rate has been as high as only 123.72and remained 110. Thus, before DC versus KKR, Kris Srikkanth -- ex-India chief selector and cricketer -- shared his brutal take on him.

During the live telecast of the DC-KKR face-off, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi,the presenter Neroli Meadows questioned Srikkanthabout Pandey. The 1983 World Cup-winning memberinterrupted and said 'why talk about Manish Pandey, he shouldn't even be in the team'.

Here's how the conversation panned out:

Meadows:Chikka, a word about Manish Pandey. He hasn’t quite been able to… (gets interrupted)

Srikkanth:Why are we talking about Manish Pandey? I don’t want to talk about him. The guy shouldn’t even be in the team. Let’s talk about Axar Patel, how he has been in the form of his life and deserves to bat higher.

Meadows:Well, Chikka seems to be pretty clear that he doesn’t want to talk about Manish Pandey.

Srikkanth:No, I don’t want to talk about him. He shouldn’t be in this team. If I was the chairman of selectors, he wouldn't have played.