Punjab Kings suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in the ongoing IPL 2026. Against Delhi Capitals, the Shreyas Iyer-led side suffered a three-wicket defeat, which can complicate their progress to the playoffs. They posted 210 runs with the bat in the first innings, but it was once again their poor execution with the ball and fielding standard that led to the defeat.
Notably, Arshdeep Singh and Yash Thakur helped Punjab off to a great start as the visitors were reduced to 33/3 at one stage. Since Delhi’s middle order struggled so far in the campaign, Punjab were expected to dominate the proceedings, but that’s exactly where they struggled. They dropped multiple opportunities on the field and that frustrated Shreyas, who called the team out after the game.
"I won't beat around the bush; I'll just say fielding and bowling again. (If he thought 210 was a good score) Absolutely, I feel that it was 30 runs more on this wicket considering how the ball was seaming and there was variable bounce,” Shreyas said in the post-match presentation.
Why didn’t Yuzvendra Chahal bowl a single over vs DC?
In an interesting move, Shreyas didn’t use spinner Yuzvendra Chahal at all in the match. He continued to rely on pacers, which got mixed reactions online, as former cricketers Dodda Ganesh and Mohammad Kaif pointed out. However, Shreyas explained the reasons behind the move, highlighting the conditions.
"(On bowling Chahal) There was absolutely a thought in my mind, but the way ball was seaming and the way it was helping seamers, I think if we would have executed our line and length precisely, we could have been able to extract wickets, but unfortunately again, we didn't,” Shreyas said.
"Still into the surface. I always say that the hard length - short of a hard length - is the best ball, especially when a new batsman is coming in. It's not easy to hit because if you keep repeating those balls, at least one ball gives a chance of mis-hitting and you can get a wicket. We've been short of planning," he added.
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