Before Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) coach Sanjay Bangar confirmed the departure of Reece Topley from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, England star David Willey had already stepped into the shoes of the injured pacer on matchday 9 of the cash-rich league. Leading the pace attack of Faf du Plessis and Co. against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens, RCB's Willey cleaned up Venkatesh Iyer and Mandeep Singh in the same over.
While KKR opener Iyer perished for 3 off 7 balls, premier batter Mandeep was handed a golden duck by an on-song Willey in the fourth over. Launching a scathing attack on KKR batter Mandeep, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar minced no words to lash out at the out-of-form batter during the match commentary. Issuing a hard-hitting statement against Mandeep on-air, Gavaskar highlighted the batting shortcomings of the KKR star in the T20 tournament. “He finds a franchise every time but he hasn't done much,” Gavaskar said on-air after Mandeep was cleaned up by Willey.
Gavaskar's fiery remark sparked a huge debate during the blockbuster encounter between Bangalore and Kolkata on Twitter. "Gavaskar destroying Mandeep Singh on commentary..Said how does he keep getting a franchise every year even after not performing #KKRvsRCB," a fan recalled Gavaskar's explosive statement on Twitter. "Sunil Gavaskar bashing Mandeep Singh for getting a franchise every year he's saying "how can this player get a franchise every year," another fan added.
{{/usCountry}}Gavaskar's fiery remark sparked a huge debate during the blockbuster encounter between Bangalore and Kolkata on Twitter. "Gavaskar destroying Mandeep Singh on commentary..Said how does he keep getting a franchise every year even after not performing #KKRvsRCB," a fan recalled Gavaskar's explosive statement on Twitter. "Sunil Gavaskar bashing Mandeep Singh for getting a franchise every year he's saying "how can this player get a franchise every year," another fan added.
{{/usCountry}}Mandeep, who was roped in by KKR for IPL 2023 at his base price of INR 50 lakh, also scripted an unwanted record in the cash-rich league. The KKR batter holds the record for the most number of ducks in the history of IPL. Mandeep has recorded 15 ducks in his bitter-sweet IPL career. Mandeep has surpassed Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik in the list of players with the most ducks at IPL.
Averaging only 20.91 in the IPL, Mandeep has amassed 1694 runs in 110 matches. The 31-year-old has plied his trade with KKR, Punjab Kings (PBKS), RCB and Delhi Capitals (DC) in the world's richest T20 league. The Indian batter made his IPL debut against five-time winners Mumbai Indians at Brabourne Stadium in 2010.