Cape Town - Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has praised Proteas batsman Hashim Amla for his consistency during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Kings XI Punjab.
The Kings XI entered their final league match on Sunday against the Rising Pune Supergiant needing a victory to make the playoffs, but were bowled out for just 73.
The Supergiant went on to complete a comfortable nine-wicket victory to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament.
Sehwag, Kings XI's director of cricket operations, singled out Amla - while criticising the rest of the team for not playing up to the Proteas batsman's standards.
"We missed Hashim Amla," Sehwag told reporters on Sunday, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"He (Amla) is an experienced player and has played more than 100 Test matches and averages close to 50 in Test and one-day cricket. He knows how to score runs immaterial of the format and he takes very few risks.
"When you lose a batsman of that caliber, it's necessary for someone to step in and bat with responsibility.
"The other players in the team have a lot to learn from Hashim Amla, be it international players or Indian."
Amla became the third IPL batsman (behind Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli) to score more than two centuries in a season, scoring 420 runs in his 10 games at an average of 60.00.
Amla, along with the seven other South Africans in this year's IPL, returned home last week to prepare for the upcoming tour to England and the ICC Champions Trophy.
IPL playoff fixtures:
Qualifier 1: Mumbai Indians v Rising Pune Supergiant - May 16 (Mumbai)
Eliminator: Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders - May 17 (Bangalore)