We could have done better in all areas, says Dhawan after PBKS exit from IPL

PTI, May 20, 2023, 9:33 AM IST

A disappointed Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan said they failed to fire in unison in all departments of the game, which is the reason behind their early ouster from the ongoing IPL.

PBKS lost by four wickets to Rajasthan Royals in a must-win game here on Friday to crash out of the tournament.

”We could have done better in all the areas I think. Sometimes the batting was clicking, and sometimes the bowling was clicking, we couldn’t put those performances together. ”But it’s a young group, so we have learnt a lot of things this season,” Dhawan said after the match.

Punjab posted 187 for 5, a target achieved by RR in 19.3 overs.

Dhawan said losing too many wickets in powerplay restricted them from reaching 200-run mark, which should have been a good score on this wicket. ”We lost too many wickets in the powerplay and that put us on the backfoot, but (Sam) Curran, Jitesh (Sharma) and Shahrukh (Khan) got us back in the game, the bowling was good (in patches), but the fielding wasn’t great, the dropped catches cost us the game. ”I feel 200 should have been a good total on this pitch. I knew I had to take the game deep, so I wanted my best bowlers to bowl early, so Rahul (Chahar) had to bowl the last over. In the last game I gave Harpreet (Brar) the final over, it depends on the surface and the situation,” he said.

The win kept RR’s slim play-off hopes alive though it depends on results of other remaining matches.

”We have a quality team and it is a little shocking to see where we stand on the table,” RR skipper Sanju Samson said.

He praised the breath-taking batting effort of Yashasvi Jaiswal in this edition of the IPL. ”I have been talking about Jaiswal almost every game. He has shown maturity. It feels he has played 100 T20Is,” Samson said.