'Foreign players did not take responsibility' - Sehwag

Virender Sehwag, Kings XI Punjab's director of cricket operations, was unimpressed by the performance of their overseas players in the knockout game against Rising Pune Supergiant on Sunday.

Kings XI careened to 32 for 5 in the Powerplay, with all four of Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan, Shaun Marsh and the captain Glenn Maxwell having fallen. They were eventually bowled out for their lowest total in the IPL - 73 - and were knocked out of the tournament.

"I'm very disappointed," Sehwag said in the post-match press conference. "I can say that none of the foreign players took responsibility and at least played 12 to 15 overs. Their role was at least one of the top four should bat for 12 to 15 overs, but none of the batsmen took the responsibility.

"I think they were complaining that the wicket was a bit slow but when you play international cricket so much, you should get used to playing on difficult or good wickets. There are very rare occasions when you get a good wicket to bat on but whatever wicket you get, you have to play at least 20 overs for your side. But Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Guptill and Morgan [were all disappointing]."

The procession began from the very first ball as Guptill smashed an on-the-up drive to short cover. Marsh popped a catch to mid-off in the fourth over. Morgan was run out for 4 and Maxwell fell for a duck.

"Guptill's role was to cash in during the Powerplay and [the other opener] Wriddhiman Saha's was to just bat around with him," Sehwag said. "So I don't mind him getting out on the first or second ball as long as he knows what he's doing. There's no point blaming him; I should rather blame the other batsmen.

"Even Marsh, his role was to play till 10-12 overs, but the way he got out was disappointing and then Maxwell and Morgan, these are the experienced players… I mean the players who got out had been informing the next batsman that it's a slow wicket and even then if you throw away wickets, it means that you're not up for the game."

Kings XI had picked Maxwell to lead them this season even though he did not have any experience leading a side in senior cricket. He managed 310 runs in 13 innings with an average of 31.00 and a top score of 47.

"We always knew that when Maxwell fires, then he can win the match on his own," Sehwag said. "But he didn't fire in eight or nine games. That is a big disappointment, especially since he's experienced, having played for Australia's Test and ODI teams. He didn't take the responsibility as a captain and didn't perform for Kings XI Punjab."

Kings XI were without Hashim Amla, who hit two hundreds in the tournament - neither of them resulted in wins, though. Sehwag was effusive in his praise for the South African opener who had left on national duty.

"We missed Hashim Amla, for sure," Sehwag said. "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."