Nehal Wadhera – Punjab Kings’ Ultimate Problem Solver – Cricket.com

IPL 2024: 109 runs @18.17, 129.76 SR, 15 boundaries
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024/25: 97 runs @16.16, 104.30 SR, nine boundaries
As a 24-year-old, Nehal Wadhera had two choices: a) to end his career as a one-season wonder or b) to prove to everyone that he is for the future. 
When PBKS splurged INR 4.2 crore, they would have hoped for the latter, as the 24-year-old wasn’t just another player in this setup but perhaps their biggest problem solver. His ability to not just play time but also play the situation made him perfect for the team. 
However, his performances were far from those that put him on the IPL map. He had just scored 97 runs in the SMAT 2024/25 trophy, averaging 16.16, one of the prime reasons why Punjab couldn’t go all the way.
“I think there’s always a time in everyone’s career when you cannot score even if you are trying very hard. I think it was a similar phase for me in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT),” Wadhera answered Cricket.com’s query in the PBKS-organised round-table. 
“I’m not someone who gives up. I knew that I had IPL in my hand, and it was going to come, so I prepared myself accordingly. I just went over to check what didn’t work for me in SMAT and worked on that.
“I examined all my weaknesses, and I have worked really hard on that. I have improved myself. I have also looked at the various shots that didn’t work for me, and even looked at how the opposition was targeting me. I worked on all of that. It has been paying off now,” Wadhera further added. 
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Across the two tournaments where Wadhera wasn’t quite successful, there was a pattern – the balls going away from his arc were causing his downfall. 36.8% of them (wherever ball data was available) were short, mostly away from his body.
There was a bigger pattern, however, behind his dismissals: Wadhera wasn’t giving himself enough time at the crease – six out of his ten dismissals, across the two tournaments, came within the first ten deliveries, where he had a staggering false shot percentage of 36.8. 
That’s where the camps before the start of IPL 2025 were heavily influential. 
“So, our [Ponting and Wadhera] conversations are pretty simple. We had camps in Dharamsala, and I spoke to him personally to check what batting position I would bat in. At the same time, he told me that I might be a ‘floater’ in the team because of my ability against spin,” Wadhera said. 

The left-hander wasn’t a world-beater against spin, as evident by his struggles in the previous tournaments, where he averaged just 16.4 against the tweakers. He wasn’t a prolific boundary hitter either against spin (8 BPB), which meant he had to evolve. 
And, he did, becoming PBKS’ best batter against spin. 
In IPL 2025, Wadhera has had a strike rate of 144.1 against spin while still maintaining an average of 60.5, which means two things: he isn’t getting out early and is most definitely taking the attack to the spinners (62.8% of his runs coming in boundaries), which has transformed his fortunes at the ongoing IPL, scoring 121 runs. 
But what’s more important about Wadhera’s campaign is his ability to trust and back himself. 
Earlier this campaign, on April 18 (Friday), Wadhera got the golden opportunity to prove his prowess against spin. At 52/3, PBKS still needed 44 runs to win a thriller against RCB, and with Josh Hazlewood moving the ball, it was the 24-year-old’s opportunity to ‘shine’.

"I love playing under tough situations. It was a very good opportunity to prove myself. Before going out to bat, the coach [Ponting] came to me and told me, ‘Nehal, we just need run-a-ball, you can just go easy’,” he talked about the clash.
“I said, ‘Okay, coach’ but as soon as I went inside, I felt that RCB put a lot of pressure on us at that time, so I felt that, now that I have come inside, my match-ups are there, and I think this is my responsibility now to make my team go through and put some pressure back on RCB.”
The left-hander soaked in all the pressure early on and then took on the favourable match-up, smashing Suyash Sharma for 21 runs in 12 deliveries, striking at 175, which helped PBKS get over RCB in a nail-biter. 
He wasn’t just attacking; he stayed calm and composed while at it, something that even Virat Kohli attested to in a private chat with Wadhera after PBKS’ win over RCB in Bengaluru. 
"He [Kohli] told me that your plan was good to just attack the bowlers because, in low-scoring games, it's always challenging. After that, he told me that 'I could see composure in your batting and the shots you were hitting, had a lot of thought.’

“He was happy to see my preparation, and he was happy to share his experience with me. I was also equally happy taking all his experience and all the compliments he gave, which meant I was pleased hearing that from a legend like Kohli,” he added. 
Wadhera might be just 24, but you can sense in his words that he wants to be in the tough spots and take more responsibilities, because that’s what gets you on the Indian selectors’ radar. 
With other spin-hitters struggling, Wadhera couldn’t have timed his rise to perfection because his skillset will again be on national television against CSK on a turning track at Chepauk. 
Punjab's local munda is making PBKS' mahol poora wavy, and is damn good at it. 
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