Brian Lara slams Virat Kohli for opening the bowling with Dale Steyn in Mumbai loss

Bangalore faced a crushing five-wicket defeat at the hands of Mumbai in Match 48 of the Dream11 IPL 2020 on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. Having won the toss, Mumbai invited Bangalore to bat first. Virat Kohli's men posted a respectable total of 164/6 riding on the back of a fine knock by Devdutt Padikkal who scored 74 off 45 balls.

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Virat Kohli's decision to give new ball to Dale Steyn instead of Mohammad Siraj leaves Brian Lara baffled

Mumbai needed to get off to a good start against a formidable Bangalore bowling line-up. Virat Kohli gave the new ball to Chris Morris while Dale Steyn, who was making a return to the team after a number of games, shared the ball with the South African all-rounder. While Morris was economical, Steyn couldn't make an impact as he was plundered for 20 runs in his first two overs.

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Kohli's decision to give the new ball to Dale Steyn instead of an in-form Mohammad Siraj left many baffled. In fact, legendary cricketer Brian Lara, who was commentating during the match, said that he was ‘dumbfounded’ that Bangalore opened with Steyn and not Siraj. The Hyderabad-based pacer has been in great form recently. He was given the new ball against Kolkata where he ran riot with his stunning swing bowling and was also named 'Player of the Match' for his figures of 3/8.

Moreover, Kohli called Siraj to bowl the sixth over and the right-hander struck immediately as he got rid off an in-form Quinton de Kock. Steyn hasn't been the same bowler that he was a couple of years ago. Age certainly seems to have caught up with him and he is not as effective as he was earlier in T20 cricket, according to Lara.

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The South African veteran had a miserable outing as he gave away 43 runs in his four overs and went wicketless. His numbers in the ongoing edition of the Dream11 IPL are extremely disappointing, to say the least. Steyn has managed to pick just one wicket in the three matches he has played at an awful economy rate of 11.77. After his dismal performance against Mumbai, it seems like the legendary pacer has played his last game in the Dream11 IPL.

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SOURCE: BRIAN LARA INSTAGRAM