Gavaskar, Bishop mercilessly troll Pietersen on-air during DC vs KKR IPL match | Cricket

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop poked fun at ex-England skipper Kevin Pietersen during Delhi Capitals’ (DC) home game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday. Pietersen, who is a late addition to the star-studded Indian Premier League (IPL) commentary lineup for the 16th season of the cash-rich tournament, had captained Delhi Capitals back in 2014.

During the 2013 season of the world’s richest T20 league, Delhi Capitals recorded five back-to-back defeats and finished last on the points table. Under the leadership of veteran opener David Warner, DC have failed to win a single match in their first five league games this season. Talking about Delhi’s disastrous run in the IPL 2023, commentator Bishop reminded viewers that the Capitals have lost their first five league games of the season for the first time since 2013.

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Breaking into uncontrollable laughter, Bishop clarified that he had no intentions to highlight Delhi’s forgetful season when Pietersen was at the helm. Roped in for a whopping sum of INR 9 crore, Pitersen was appointed as the captain of the Capitals franchise for IPL 2014. “Only the second time that Delhi Capitals have lost their first five games of their season. It last happened back in 2013 (laughs). Kevin Pietersen has just put his hand in the air and said he was the captain back then. That’s not my intimation,” Bishop said on-air during DC’s match against KKR in the IPL 2023.

“I put my hand up and said guilty as captain. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen to Warner this evening. Absolutely not, they have won the toss and that’s the first job done very well. And for this great city, for this great fan base. They got to get off to a winning start in this campaign this evening Sunny,” Pietersen added. Pietersen scored 294 runs in the IPL 2014. Pietersen’s Delhi Capitals recorded 12 defeats in 14 league matches at the time.

Joining the banter on-air, batting legend Gavaskar also issued a noteworthy statement about Delhi’s awful start to the IPL season. “Absolutely, they have to get their campaign going. I don’t know what you said to your team after those losses to lift themselves up. That’s something Warner will want to tell his team. To be positive, to believe in yourself, to grab the hard chances. That is so important, field well and restrict KKR to a total that is gettable,” Gavaskar added.