Former India Opener Aakash Chopra highlighted what didn’t work in Punjab Kings’ favor in the ongoing season of Indian Premier League. Punjab are already out of the playoffs race and will look to end their season on a high in their last match of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad. They lacked consistency this season in the batting department as none of their players managed to score runs in back to back games.
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Punjab did some smart business during the IPL 2022 auction by recruiting Liam Livingstone, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar in their side. However, they failed to put up a collective show to finish the season in the top 4.
Chopra claims the decision to hold back Livingstone in a few matches was a big mistake committed by Punjab Kings and it backfired terribly for them as he was the only person who looked dangerous with the bat throughout the season.
“Punjab held back Liam Livingstone quite a few times. In my opinion, that was a big mistake. If there is anyone who had incredible batting form in this team, it was him,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
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He also felt that Dhawan did well but a bit more was expected from him, while players like Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jitesh were the surprise packages for Punjab.
“Shikhar Dhawan had a decent season. Expected a bit more to be very honest. Jonny Bairstow was too late to the party to be fair. Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the joker in the pack, who came in and surprised with his performances. Jitesh Sharma was another joker in the pack. He did so well that Shahrukh Khan was forgotten,” he said.
The cricketer turned commentator further pointed out that Punjab were too late to put Jonny Bairstow in the opening slot
“When Punjab put this team together, they would have been confident that Mayank Agarwal would have a great season. But since he did not score too many and Shahrukh did not finish, there was a spanner in his works. They were too late in opening with Bairstow. Also, once Bairstow started opening, Agarwal got marginalized,” he added.
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