As he battled through an injury he sustained in the nets on match eve, Jitesh Sharma entered the batting order on Saturday with up to fifteen stitches in his eyebrow. It was time for Ashutosh Sharma when he returned to the bench, having given Punjab Kings’ disastrous middle-overs innings a much-needed boost. The 25-year-old was left off of the Rajasthan Royals starting XI, but he was added back 16 overs into the match as PBKS looked to bounce back from yet another top-order collapse. On a two-paced track where most A-listers found it difficult to get going, his 16-ball 31 towards the end of the innings was, in fact, the most significant factor in helping his side muster a respectable total.
Liam Livingstone, returning from a few of games out to a hamstring strain, kept up the pressure Kagiso Rabada generated with the new ball to force a breakthrough following a solid opening stand in RR’s chase. After that, Rabada came back to complete what he had begun, taking crucial wickets in consecutive overs of an opener who was playing well and an in-form skipper to help Punjab’s valiant defense of a modest 147 to the final two deliveries.
Head of cricket development at Punjab Kings Sanjay Bangar saw these spurts of resilience as a bright spot in a close three-wicket loss to table-toppers Rajasthan Royals in Mullanpur.
“Most of the games that we’ve played here have gone into the last over, so we’ve been extremely competitive,” Bangar stated. Even tonight, there were moments when it seemed like the game might end quickly, but the team’s resilience was demonstrated by the way the fielders held on and the bowlers continued to chip in. Indeed, we haven’t received the results. However, the team has demonstrated excellent character and fighting spirit.
“Ashutosh deserves praise for his batting performance in the last four or five overs, and Jitesh deserves praise for persevering through an injury to contribute at a pivotal point in the game. When we reflect on these games, these are the positives—boys with tremendous character.”
The hosts, who earlier this week lost to SRH by two runs in a thrilling last-ball match, suffered their second straight tight loss and are now stuck in the bottom half of the ten-team points table. PBKS have led their opponents to the final over in each of their six IPL 2024 games, and they have only lost once with great conviction.
“The team’s fighting style has demonstrated enough grit and soul. There has been fierce competition in every game. We were probably only two [good] deliveries away from winning this game, as we had lost the last one by just two runs. And who knows? Perhaps with those things going our way, we would have eight points and be feeling pretty good. That’s the essence of Twenty20 cricket, so to that end, I feel tremendous comfort in the fact that the team has demonstrated incredible character and a strong sense of resolve no matter what circumstances we face.”
Prior to the 2024 Indian Premier League, the Punjab-based team chose the recently opened stadium outside of the state capital of Chandigarh as their home venue. However, they have had difficulty establishing a strong batting base there, especially in the two night games they have played. The venue’s two tracks, which were played in three different games, had uneven bounce and obvious movement for fast bowlers playing in low light. Therefore, Mullanpur has produced half of the top eight lowest PowerPlay scores of the season, with RR’s 43/0 on Saturday being the best of the bunch. The two night games here for PBKS both had PowerPlay scores that are included in that list: the hosts’ best score of 38/1 against RR and the lowest of the season, 27/3 against SRH.
Across six innings, just two of Punjab’s usual top-five scores—one each from Shikhar Dhawan and Sam Curran—are fifty or higher. But after yet another horrendous performance by the home team’s top five, Bangar leapt to the defense of PBKS’ hitters, especially the struggling star opener Jonny Bairstow, leaving the heavy lifting to the finishers once more.
The fact that our top order isn’t producing enough runs for us is definitely cause for concern. They’re making a lot of effort; they’re not lacking effort, it’s just not happening. The wicket at Mullanpur in particular is an issue because, as you can see, some of the scores have been rather low. The wicket just seems to jag a little bit in the first six overs with the new ball in all three of the games we’ve played here. Given that it’s not just us but also the other visiting teams, that’s undoubtedly another contributing aspect.
Of course, we talk about the score choices available for these kinds of tracks. And the boys are correctly exerting a great deal of work there. Though it’s not showing, I’m rather certain they’re only a knock away.”
Punjab will play their next two home games in Mullanpur before moving to their adopted base of Dharamsala for the last two.
