Kolkata Knight Riders secured a much-needed win against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025 season, bouncing back from a rough start. However, Rajasthan’s decision to send Shimron Hetmyer at No. 8 raised eyebrows, especially since he was retained for a hefty sum of INR 11 crore for his batting skills. Former cricketers like Simon Doull and Nick Knight criticized the move, questioning the logic behind not utilizing Hetmyer higher up the order to make a bigger impact in the game. Doull pointed out that Hetmyer typically bats at No. 3 or 4 in other leagues and suggested that Rajasthan’s strategy was flawed. Additionally, the decision to use Shubham Dubey as an impact sub ahead of Hetmyer and Jofra Archer was also criticized for not maximizing their batting potential. Ambati Rayudu highlighted that Hetmyer’s proficiency against spin could have been valuable on the slow pitch. Overall, the handling of Hetmyer by Rajasthan’s coaching staff was called into question, as they missed an opportunity to leverage his batting prowess effectively in the match against Kolkata.
Follow Franchise Cricket for more IPL news.
