OPINION
Follow UsPrior to Wednesday, if you had to list out a handful of reasons for Punjab finding themselves eighth on the points table, *only* collecting 12 points from 12 games despite a promising start, the list would have looked something like this:
> Bowling being impotent, especially in the powerplay
> Senior pacers blowing unacceptably cold (nevermind hot & cold)
> Lack of wickets from spinners
> Atrocious tactical calls
> Evident disadvantage at home
Almost fittingly, every single one of the above boxes were ticked at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala as the Kings slipped to a (near) season-ending defeat at the hands of Delhi Capitals.
Mathematically, Punjab are still alive and can make it to the playoffs, but, then again, if we were to look at just the math, Arsenal can also still technically be crowned the Premier League champions. The reality is Punjab’s season is over, just like Arsenal’s, and all they can now do is analyze what went wrong and hope to fix things next season.
If you’re a Punjab Kings fan, none of this is new — the upcoming weekend will officially mark the ninth consecutive season of the Kings failing to break into the Top 4, and in about five of those seasons they’ve been ‘one win away’ from making it to the playoffs. Déjà vu.
But Wednesday was déjà vu in more ways than one as the defeat reopened wounds from the 2011 season where, at the very same venue, their playoff dreams ended at the hands of DC.
12 years ago, it was Shikhar Dhawan’s 95* that helped Deccan Chargers rout Adam Gilchrist’s Punjab. On this occasion, however, the roles got reversed as it was Dhawan who was at the receiving end, with the aggressive left-handed Australian’s side emerging victorious.
The side led by Gilchrist, though, was one that punched well above its weight. This avatar of Punjab, however, has not only underperformed but considerably so.
And when the dust settles, Trevor Bayliss & Co. will realize this underperformance has solely been down to their bowling unit which, prior to the season, on paper, seemed like one of the most well-balanced attacks, if not the best. In reality, though, it’s proven to be the most inconsistent.
64 games into the season, the Kings have taken the fewest number of wickets (66), conceded the most number of boundaries (327) and have the second-worst economy (9.4). Teams have managed to score 190+ against them on six separate occasions, or in other words in 46.15% of the matches.
When your bowling unit bleeds runs like this, it doesn’t really matter even if you have the best batting line-up in the competition; you’re going to struggle.
Punjab’s bowlers did not save their worst for the last per se — that was against LSG in Mohali — but their showing against Delhi in Dharamshala was in line with their overall rating for the season: probably a 4/10, at best.
They conceded at least 10-15 above par on a 195-200 wicket and ultimately paid the price for it. Even a Liam Livingstone special, and a gazillion drop catches from Delhi, couldn’t bail them out.
Ideally in T20 cricket, you want the following with the ball: for your pacers to strike with the new ball, for your spinners to give breakthroughs in the middle and for your speedsters to then close it out. None of these have happened for Punjab this season.
They’ve been impotent with the new ball. Punjab are only one of two teams this season to average over 50 in the powerplay (other being LSG) and have boasted the second-worst economy (9.2). On Wednesday, they went wicketless on a juicy Dharamshala wicket against one of the worst powerplay batting units in the league.
You can let one or two bad performances slide, but Wednesday was the fifth time in their last nine games Punjab had gone wicketless in the powerplay.
It is true that, all season, PBKS have struggled to zero-in on a fixed new ball pairing. Rabada, Arshdeep, Curran, Rishi Dhawan have all been paired together in different combinations and nothing has worked.
Still, for the experience that the aforementioned individuals possess, their returns with the new ball have been appalling.
When you don’t strike often in the powerplay, you’re automatically on the backfoot. You’re playing catch-up, and you’re now reliant on your spinners to pull things back by taking wickets.
But what if your spinners, too, don’t strike? That’s the nightmare Punjab have lived this season.
Their spinners have taken the joint-lowest number of wickets (21) while also being the second-most expensive spin attack in the competition. On Wednesday, between them, Chahar and Brar finished with 0/74 off 7 overs.
To be fair to Punjab’s spinners, they’ve not let the side down on wickets that have turned big. Case in point the previous encounter against Delhi, where Chahar and Brar wreaked havoc, picking 6/46 off 8 between them.
But the flat tracks are the ones in which the elite spinners stand out; that is where you can separate the best from the rest.
Punjab have played 7 of their matches on batting paradises (six home games + Wankhede) and in those games, Chahar and Brar have combined to take just 4/329 in 39 overs.
In particular, the numbers of Chahar are scathing, being a leggie: he’s taken a solitary wicket in 24 overs on the aforementioned surfaces, albeit being fairly economical (E.R 8.2).
In a way, it is not ideal for Punjab’s spinners to always be bowling to set batters — due to the lack of wickets in the powerplay — but that can be no excuse for wickets completely drying up.
We’re yet to get to the worst part, though: how PBKS’ seamers have fared at the death.
At the auction, Punjab shelled out INR 18.5 crore to Curran for what he did at the death for England in the World Cup. Coupling him with Arshdeep, one of India’s best death bowlers, they believed, would make them formidable at the back end.
It’s been anything but that as PBKS’ E.R of 10.8 in overs 16-20 is the joint third-worst in the competition.
Arshdeep has had his moments at the death — look no further than the Wankhede encounter — but has been a bit ‘off’ by his usual standards. He misfired big time in the reverse clash against MI in Mohali and that was a costly slip; winning there would have propelled Punjab to third spot.
But the biggest disappointment, without question, has been Curran, whose E.R of 10.4 ranks 9th out of 13 bowlers who have bowled a minimum of 75 balls in the 16-20 phase.
With Curran, in fact, it’s not just about the 16-20 phase. Outside the powerplay this season, he’s had an E.R of 11.2. (9/290 off 25.5 overs). It is, by some distance, the worst among bowlers who’ve sent down at least 20 overs in the 7-20 phase this IPL.
Punjab brought in Curran in the hope that he’d be a bank for them in the back end of the innings. He’s instead unfortunately turned out to be a run-machine.
The already-existing problems in the bowling attack have been exacerbated by the decision-making of skipper Dhawan, who has made some utterly flabbergasting calls all season.
And both his worst decisions have somehow involved Brar — first not bowling more than one over of the left-arm spinner at Eden, and today giving him the 20th over against a set Rilee Rossouw when Arshdeep had not one, but two overs up his sleeve.
Would Punjab have won both tonight and at Eden had Dhawan made better tactical calls? There is no guarantee.
But at least there would have been no ‘what if’ attached to those defeats. They will now exit this campaign regretting several decisions.
Amidst all this bowling chaos, you’ve got to give huge props to the Punjab batters. They managed to keep the side in the hunt for the playoffs not only in spite of their bowling, but also in spite of Dhawan’s form with the bat falling off a cliff.
There are positives, and positives only, on the batting front, and that certainly is a huge silver lining.
But for Punjab, the past decade has been all about silver linings and nothing else. This is a team that’s no stranger to winning hearts. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, it’s the number of points you have on the board that truly matters.
