Punjab Kings batting coach Wasim Jaffer admitted that his side ‘underperformed’ in the ongoing IPL 2023 season after their final game this year while adding that with the kind of players PBKS had, they should’ve finished in the top half of the table.
Sam Curran smashed a 49-run knock, combined with Shahrukh Khan’s 41-run innings and a brisk 44-run effort from Jitesh Sharma as PBKS managed to put up a total of 187 after a shaky start after Rajasthan Royals in Dharamshala on Friday.
However, it was not enough to secure all three points as the Royals won the match by 4 wickets with two balls to spare as Dhruv Jurel smashed the winning runs and kept his side alive in the race for playoffs at the cost of the home team.
Jaffer though lamented the fact that the bowling attack let down the side and thus Punjab had to make an early exit from the tournament yet again. Since they last played in the final in 2014, they’ve not made it into the playoffs for the past nine years.
“The kind of bowling attack we had, especially the fast bowlers and even spinners, we should have bowled better in certain conditions. We didn’t live up to the expectations as a bowling unit,” said Jaffer in the post-match press conference.
“It’s a disappointing season, without a doubt. With the kind of squad that we had, I think we needed to be in the top half of the table. I think we have definitely underperformed,” he added.
Coming into the fixture against RR, PBKS still had an outside chance of qualifying for the playoffs but their latest defeat means they end another campaign on a low.
Jaffer also attributed his side’s woes to injuries which hampered the squad even before the start of the league as they missed on many key players.
Jonny Bairstow didn’t join the franchise as he is still recovering from an injury, Kagiso Rabada didn’t look at his best having struggled all season, Liam Livingstone joined the franchise later having only just recovered from an issue while the skipper Shikhar Dhawan also missed a handful of games due to a shoulder niggle.
“Considering the situation there was, Livi (Livingstone) wasn’t there at the start (due to injury) and when Levi came in, we though we needed to go top heavy. And, then, Shikhar got injured. So, we had to play Short because we were missing one player there (at the top). We need to put an opener there. So those were the circumstances,” the former India international added.
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