“He knows how to score runs immaterial of the format”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Former India batsman Virender Sehwag has lavished praise on Kings XI Punjab opener Hashim Amla for having a major impact with the bat in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).

Sehwag, who is the franchise’s director of cricket operations, admitted that Amla, who plays for South Africa, was the only overseas player to have lived up to expectations.

The Australian duo of Glenn Maxwell, who captained the Kings XI, and Shaun Marsh failed to impress Sehwag despite averaging 31 and 33 respectively.

“We missed Hashim Amla, for sure,” Sehwag told ESPNcricinfo. “The kind of consistency he showed, none of the other players could do that, an individual couldn’t take responsibility. Saha played one [good] innings, Manan Vohra played one innings but apart from that none of the others played responsibly.

“He [Amla] is an experienced player and has played more than 100 Test matches and averages close to 50 in Test cricket and also one-day cricket. He knows how to score runs immaterial of the format. And he takes very few risks.

“Whatever risks he takes, it is always after 12 or 15 overs, when he knows that he has completed his role and there’s a need to score quick runs. Otherwise, for the first 10 overs he takes less risks and remains on 30-40 and converts them into big scores. The two hundreds that he scored were brilliant. The other players in the team have a lot to learn from Hashim Amla, be it international players or Indian.”

Amla represented the Kings XI in 10 matches and accumulated 420 runs, which included two centuries and two fifties, at an average of 60 and a strike-rate of 145.83.