Punjab Kings (PBKS) suffered a narrow defeat against the mighty Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the iconic M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Punjab Kings now have won 1 contest and lost 1 and are placed at 5th position on the points table. PBKS’ bowlers couldn’t defend a challenging 177 target as RCB hunted down the target quite smartly.
Jonny Bairstow’s lackluster form and captaincy pressure on Shikhar Dhawan
The dashing wicket-keeper batter Jonny Bairstow has looked in two minds whether to attack or defend which has hurt the team. The batter was dismissed by the lethal speedster Mohammed Siraj for 8 runs. Perhaps, Bairstow needs to play his natural attacking gameplan rather than getting into the shell. Due to which, there was added responsibility on the shoulders of skipper Shikhar Dhawan.
Shikhar Dhawan would be ruing that he couldn’t convert his start as he scored 45 runs in 37 balls and struck 5 fours and 1 six. He formed a crucial partnership with Prabhsimran Singh as the duo got the team out of the trouble. Shikhar Dhawan would be well aware of the fact that he needs to have a brilliant season with the bat and score in excess of 500 runs in the championship to make a case for himself for the upcoming marquee T20 WC 2024 which is in June in West Indies- USA.
Mystery over the absence of Sikandar Raza
Sikandar Raza is the flamboyant all-rounder who can contribute in all the 3 facets of the game as his variations are quite tough to pick. There has been no official word on his absence in the first two matches of the tournament. Raza undoubtedly is the match winner who is quite fearless and can smash lusty blows at the back of the innings.
Poor performance by Punjab Kings’ lethal bowlers Arshdeep Singh & Harshal Patel
We should not forget that the left arm speedster Arshdeep Singh is no longer a newbie in the T20 setup. Arshdeep Singh was taken to the cleaners as he conceded 40 runs in his 3,2 overs. The pacer needs to work on his variations especially at the death overs as bowling full tosses won’t help the team much. The spell of Arshdeep Singh overshadowed the performance of Kagiso Rabada & Harpreet Brar who took 2 wickets each and conceded only 36 runs in their 8 overs spell.
Harshal Patel, the seasoned campaigner astonishingly was whacked all around the park as he gave away 45 runs in his 4 over spell and took 1 wicket. PBKS needs to sort out their death bowlers as every season they perform well at the start of the season and then their performance takes a drastic turn. PBKS’ next match is against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on 30th March 2024 at Lucknow which promises to be a thriller as both the teams are evenly matched.