Captain Iyer says team could have executed plans better~
Punjab Kings suffered their first loss of the ongoing Indian Premier League season to Rajasthan Royals at the New PCA Stadium, New Chandigarh, on Saturday. After electing the field first, the PBKS bowling unit struggled to contain Royals’ top order with Yashasvi Jaiswal, skipper Sanju Sason and Riyan Parag batting well.
Having a good start, Royals posted a total of 205/4 in 20 overs, setting a big target for the home side. But Punjab lost the big wickets of Priyansh Arya and skipper Shreyas Iyer in the first over itself, and the target became too steep to chase.
Despite a fighting batting display by Nehal Wadhera who scored 62 off 41 balls, PBKS could muster 155/9 in 20 overs, losing the encounter by 50 runs.
“I think we have to give credit to the opposition for a wonderful batting display. We needed to bat better. We lost two wickets in the first over. That was the concern. 200 is a par score these days. To get that score, it is important to have a good powerplay. But it’s just the beginning, we have a long season ahead,” Punjab Kings spin-bowling coach Sunil Joshi said at the post-match press conference.
On the bowling front, Aussie allrounder Glenn Maxwell, who has been among wickets in the first two games, bowled only one over, and gave away just six runs. Joshi admitted that Punjab could have used spin bowlers more effectively on the surface.
“I think we missed a trick, we could have bowled a couple of more spin overs with Maxwell and (Yuzvendra) Chahal. It was a good wicket. It was a field that supported both teams equally,” he said.
Meanwhile, suffering his first loss as PBKS captain, Iyer, at the post-match presentation ceremony, said that his side were not able to execute their plans and gave away 15-20 more runs with the ball.
“To be honest, I was considering around 180-185. That would be good to chase over here, we weren’t able to execute our plans. I’m glad this blip happened early in the tournament. It was a decent pitch, the ball was holding a bit and we were not giving them much pace,” he said.
“I felt we could have taken it slower and tried to build partnerships, but lots of learning from this game. Today there was no dew as we anticipated, but I feel we need to go back to the drawing board and see the videos where we weren’t able to execute with our bowling and batting,” he added.
Additionally, head coach Ricky Ponting also held a debrief session with his team in the dressing room after the match, and focused on the importance of individual performances and the learnings from the game.
“Just have a little bit of think about your individual game today and if there is an area that we could tighten up on a fraction. We have been so good. But I am not going to let go of a moment like this where we cannot continue to learn. Use tomorrow wisely and think about areas where we can do better. When we turn up here next, let’s make sure we play a better game,” Ponting told his team.
Punjab Kings will next face off against Chennai Super Kings at the New PCA Stadium, New Chandigarh on Tuesday.
