'Rubbish. Absolute travesty': Gavaskar's controversial on-air remark involving Rinku Singh, Yash Dayal draws flak
As Rinku Singh ran towards the dugout and celebrated the moment with his teammates, a piece of commentary by Gavaskar irked plenty of fans.
Rinku Singh etched his name forever in the annals of IPL as his 21-ball 48 gave Kolkata Knight Riders one of the most memorable victories in the history of the tournament. With 28 needed to win off five balls, when no one gave him a chance, the left-handed batter smashed five sixes in a row off left-arm pacer Yash Dayal to do the unthinkable and escaped with the heist of KKR. Rinku's onslaught brought back memories of Carlos Brathwaite's four sixes off Ben Stokes in the final of the ICC World T20 2016 and Rahul Tewatia's similar five sixes for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020. It takes a lot of overshadow a hat-trick from Rashid Khan, but Rinku ensured that the match, the evening belonged to Rinku.
Rinku's fifth and final six of the over triggered euphoria in the KKR dugout. But as Rinku ran towards the dugout and celebrated the moment with his teammates, a piece of commentary by Rohan Gavaskar earned him plenty of flak on social media. While the moment belonged to Rinku, Gavaskar went on about how poorly Dayal bowled.
"This is why I say it's a bowler's game. He has bowled absolute rubbish over there, but we've been talking about Rinku Singh and how good he has been batting. Yesterday we were saying that if a batter goes at about a run-a-ball or at a strike-rate of 120, you are criticising him. A bowler goes for 31 and you say it's Rinku Singh - he takes the plaudits. And that is why I keep saying this is a bowler's game," he said.
Gavaskar's on-air comments were ridiculed on social media as rubbish with some wanting him sacked from the IPL commentary panel. Others wished Rinku's moment had either Ian Bishop, or Ravi Shastri or let alone both calling the action together.
{{/usCountry}}Gavaskar's on-air comments were ridiculed on social media as rubbish with some wanting him sacked from the IPL commentary panel. Others wished Rinku's moment had either Ian Bishop, or Ravi Shastri or let alone both calling the action together.
{{/usCountry}}Here are some of the Twitter reactions directed against Gavaskar Jr.
{{/usCountry}}Here are some of the Twitter reactions directed against Gavaskar Jr.
{{/usCountry}}With his exploits, Rinku joined an illustrious of batters to have hit five sixes in a single IPL over. This includes Universe Boss Chris Gayle, Ravindra Jadeja, and of course, Tewatia. Last year, Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder even combined to smash five sixes in an over off Shivam Mavi. Meanwhile, Dayal's sorry of 0/79 is now the second-most expensive bowling figures in an IPL innings, behind Basil Thampi's 0/70 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018. Ishan Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Umesh Yadav have conceded 66, 66, and 65 each respectively.
