Dube bowling the last over was a bad calculation: Gambhir

Talking about Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) loss against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), former India player Gautam Gambhir said that Shivam Dube bowling the last over for RCB was a ‘bad calculation’. 

“You finished off Navdeep Saini in the 17th over. Probably, you could have used Umesh Yadav, who did not have the best of the days. But Shivam Dube bowling the last over was a bad calculation,” Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.

RCB faced a 97-run defeat at the hands of KXIP, who restricted their rivals at 109 runs in 17 overs on Thursday night. 

However, it was not a good day for skipper Virat Kohli as he missed two catches on the field and scored only one run off the bat.

Bangalore bowlers conceded 60 runs in the final three overs of the match as Punjab’s skipper KL Rahul created the record of highest score by a skipper in the history of Indian Premier League. 

“I know Shivam Dube bowled really well in his first two overs. Yes, you would be tempted to give him a third over, but not the last over. When KL Rahul is already set and batting on 100+, you are walking on the edge, because that can happen,” Gambhir said.

He further added, “I would have Navdeep Saini or Dale Steyn bowling the last over, even though Steyn is not the best death over. But I would have given the last over to the best bowler of the team”.

 “Had KL Rahul got out for 86-89, Kings XI would have scored 185, and chasing that would have been completely different gameplan for RCB. That is how it happened, that is what T20 cricket. Small mistakes can make a huge difference as well. It was a huge impact, especially from those results point of view."