Kings XI Punjab opener Paul Valthaty lived up to his captain Adam Gilchrist's expectations yesterday scoring 62 off 50 balls with six fours and three sixes
Kings XI Punjab opener Paul Valthaty lived up to his captain Adam Gilchrist's expectations yesterday scoring 62 off 50 balls with six fours and three sixes. Incidentally, whenever Valthaty has made a big score, Punjab have won the match, so obviously Gilchrist was hoping he would fire. But the Australian paid Valthaty a huge compliment on the eve of the match, when he compared the Mumbai lad's batting style to his own.
"Paul has an attacking style of play and in such a style results are always inconsistent. I know this because I'm speaking through personal experience," said Gilchrist answering a query about Valthaty's inconsistent scores in the ongoing IPL. 
Kings XI Punjab's skipper Adam Gilchrist (left) hugs Paul Valthaty
After a great start to IPL IV wherein he slammed 120 against Chennai Super Kings in the first week of the tournament, Valthaty faced a bit of a slump (see box) and with it came its share of criticism.
The former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman drew a lot of flak from critics for his style of play in his heyday.
However, that never stopped him from slamming the ball to the ropes and also over it as often as he could irrespective of the situation. The same is the case of Valthaty, said Gilly. "In his style of play there are extended periods when you don't do well but in the Twenty20 format of play you have to play like that. That's the nature of T20 and that's what Paul is doing. For me, Paul is a very hardworking player. He is a total team player. Even if you look at his other scores in this tournament, they have all been quick ones (at a rate far more than a run a ball). And since I'm speaking through personal experience having a similar style of play, I know what it's like to do that. So, I have always been going up to him to encourage him even when his scores have not been big. He is a great talent and capable of scoring big runs. It's only a matter of time before he is among the runs again," Gilchrist had said.u00a0
After punishing almost every Delhi bowler at the HPCA Stadium here, Valthaty sent out a strong message to Kings XI Punjab's opponents in the remainder of the IPL. No wonder Gilchrist struggled to describe his star batsman's knock. "Paul was just very, very good," he said yesterday.
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