Popular Indian commentator and analyst Harsha Bhogle has expressed his disappointment over the batting line-up of Rajasthan Royals after their star-opener Ben Stokes was dismissed without even opening his account.
Chasing the total of 221 runs, Ben Stokes and Manan Vohra walked out in the middle to open the innings for Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing match against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. However, Stokes failed miserably to open the innings for his team as he was dismissed on 0 runs after playing three balls.
After Stokes dismissal, Sanju Samson walked in with all-guns-blazing and took the game by storm. He scored a stunning century. Jos Buttler, who walked out to bat at number 4 threw away his wicket after giving a good start. He scored 25 runs off 13 balls, hitting 5 fours.
Meanwhile, popular Indian commentator and analyst Harsha Bhogle took to his Twitter and expressed his disappointment with the batting line-up of Rajasthan Royals. In his tweet, Bhogle claimed that he didn’t get the batting order of RR as he feels that Buttler should bat at the top and Stokes is a dangerous finisher. He said:
“Must confess I don’t get the @rajasthanroyals batting order. Buttler is among the best in the world at the top. And Stokes can be a dangerous finisher!”
Here, check out the Tweet:
Must confess I don’t get the @rajasthanroyals batting order. Buttler is among the best in the world at the top. And Stokes can be a dangerous finisher!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 12, 2021
The tweet went viral in no time and was flooded with amazing reactions to it. The tweet was welcomed by mixed reactions from the fans on it. While many agreed to Harsha, on the other hand, many slammed Harsha for his theory and disagreed with him.
Here, check out the reactions of Twitterati on this:
Stokes is not good in middle order in T20, he is good in opening only. I think both can open as well.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 12, 2021
Harsha can you actually show me instances of stokes being a dangerous finisher in T20s??? , you are just mixing it with ODIs
— Poojith?? (@Poojith91227500) April 12, 2021
Simple answer Stokes is also among the best in the world at the top. And Buttler is a dangerous finisher!
— Bharath (@carromball_) April 12, 2021
Stokes can be a dangerous finisher only when he has had time at the crease. Buttler has much better range as a finisher than Stokes. So there is better value in placing Stokes at the top of the order than Buttler..
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) April 12, 2021
Harsha, you are forgetting that Ben Stokes hasn’t done well for RR or Eng in middle order in T20 format. He started to find his mojo last IPL season in the top order. That’s why RR are persisting with him at the top of the order and rightly so.
— Arjun (@LifeIsAnElation) April 12, 2021
The last time we saw Stokes as a dangerous finisher in T20Is, West Indies won the T20WC.
— Rahul Sharma (@CricFnatic) April 12, 2021
A little bit of research would tell you that in T20 cricket, Stokes can’t be half the finisher Buttler is. At the same time, he can ofcourse exploit the Powerplay and be a very good opener. We have seen that last year.
— Ricky talks Cricket (@CricRicky) April 12, 2021
Absolutely. They are not playing Stoeks at top for nothing. Two IPL tons both while opening.
Disappointing from @bhogleharsha to term stoeks as “dangerous finisher”.— Jatin Khandelwal (@jr_khandelwal) April 12, 2021
No, sir. There’s a reason why Stokes’ T20 statistics for England are the way they’re. He’s a misfit in the middle-order. https://t.co/90JD3BVBrd
I don’t think it should be a question post Stokes’ performance at the top last year.
On the contrary, Jos is a splendid finisher.
— Sparsh Telang (@_cricketsparsh) April 12, 2021
However i disagree.. you need stability .. butler is a more stable batsman than stokes.. i guess with whatver options this 11 had is being made good use of.. maybe they need to look at these 11.. need a solid batsman to be in middle order.. then butler can open and stokes at 4..
— Anup Nair (@anup30nair) April 12, 2021
