Didn’t understand CSK’s decision to retire Devon Conway: Michael Clarke-OxBig News Network

Former Australia cricketer Michael Clarke criticised the decision of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to retire out Devon Conway against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Tuesday, April 8 at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh. Conway was retired out in the 18^th over of CSK’s chase when he was batting on 69 (49) as the team required another 49 runs to win from 13 balls.

The southpaw was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja who ended up scoring an unbeaten 9* (5) as CSK fell short of their massive target of 220 and lost the match by 18 runs. After the game ended, Clarke criticised CSK’s tactics mentioning that the opener was well set in the middle and was fully capable of hitting sixes.

“I didn’t understand that decision, you retire a player that was on 69 and had spent that much time in the middle. I know you need sixes, but it’s not like Conway can’t hit sixes. That’s the thing with decisions like that as a captain, it’s always judged if you win or lose,” Clarke said on Star Sports.

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Furthermore, he also spoke about Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer’s decision to not bowl his premier spinner Yuzvendra Chahal until the 16^th over and said that he would’ve been judged had Punjab lost the match.

“Chahal bowled the 16th over, the number one wicket taker in the IPL doesn’t get into the game until the 16th over. If Punjab Kings lose, that’s judged hard. You win, it’s not spoken about. So that’s the way the game goes, and that’s the risk you take as a captain. You’ve got to go with your guts and you’ve got to back yourself every time,” he added.

Chahal bowled just one over in the game and gave away nine runs. In the post-match presentation, Iyer revealed the reason behind not bringing on Chahal earlier and said that he didn’t want to expose him against left handers Shivam Dube and Conway.