A Vociferous Crowd Silenced
A packed Mullanpur Stadium and a vociferous weekend crowd was in anticipation of a belligerent performance from their Kings as they squared up against the table toppers Rajasthan Royals. However, the loyal fans were once again undone by a listless Punjab Kings, who after a winning start have been just slipping down the rung and post their 4th defeat in 6 games, find themselves in 8th position.
A Campaign Slipping Away
The so-called last over thriller last evening, was a foregone conclusion in favour of the Royals, much before Arshdeep Singh bowled that last over to Shemron Hetmyer. With skipper Shikhar Dhawan unavailable for the fixture, a gaping hole was already created in the Kings’ batting line up, but the way they batted was pathetic. It would be fair to say that Punjab batted themselves out of the contest. The performance was pedestrian and would have left a bitter taste in the mouth of the hapless and disappointed Punjab fans.
It is Decision Time for The Kings
It’s decision time for Punjab now, if this season has to be saved. It’s a Herculean task from here and though I wish Punjab do well, I am unable to fathom a quick renaissance for the Kings going forward in the tournament. They have stretched the non-performers too far and surely enough it is time to ring in the changes decisively.
A Misfiring Johnny
Johnny Bairstow cannot hold his place in the side. I myself have been a great fan of Bairstow and his fearless, captivating strokeplay, but he looks a pale shadow of the great talent he is ( In the Ind-Eng Test Series also, he had come a cropper in all 5 test matches). In the 6 IPL games played so far, Bairstow has scored just 96 runs at an average of just 16 and a not too great Strike Rate of 131. He has been struggling both against pace and spin and yesterday he fell once again to a soft dismissal. It’s time that Johnny needs to make way for someone else.
An Ineffective Sam
The story is no different for the over hyped Sam Curran. Barring one match winning innings in the first match for Kings this year, in the 6 matches played so far Sam Curran has scored 120 runs at an age of 21 and a feeble strike rate of just 120. His bowling figures though look a bit better with 8 wickets and 8.44 runs an over, his performances with the ball have not been decisive and have faltered in crunch situations. Moreso with his bowling most suited for English conditions, he is not much of a threat in India. With Sikandar Raza a proven match winning all rounder in the squad, Sam needs to make way.
An Inconsistent Livingstone
Liam Livingstone is another grossly underperforming Englishman in the ranks. Have hardly seen him play consistently for the Kings. It must be difficult for the Team management to see such rickety performances from players in whom they have heavily invested both money and faith.
Punjab Kings Need to Develop a Strong Core
I was hugely impressed with Prabhsimran Singh last year. An exciting swashbuckler I had expected to see him graduate to another level. Last year in 14 matches he scored 358 runs ( including a ton ) at an impressive strike rate of 150. However, this year the strike rate has come down to 140 and only 119 runs have come from his bat so far. Unfortunately, when seeing him play, he appears to have taken a step back instead of two steps forward. Punjab Kings need to look after him. He has the potential to serve the franchise as well as the country. Some insipid performances from Jitesh Sharma too have neither helped his cause nor that of his team. His selection for the T20 World Cup looks in jeopardy. Barring Arshdeep Singh and to an extend Jitesh Sharma, Punjab Kings have not been able to develop a core group of players who would serve the Franchise and bring in silverware. The unheralded Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma ( the dou in the featured image ), who have shown much gumption and fought for Punjab and got them a victory, might just be the answer to the Kings’ woes.
My Team of 12 for the Kings’ next match
Shikhar Dhawan, Prabhsimran, Jitesh Sharma , Sikandar Raza, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellys, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Ashutosh Sharma.
It has to be Bye Bye Johnny and Bye Bye Sam.
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Featured Image : Shashank and Ashutosh, Punjab’s silver lining
So Riz Khan dwells regretfully on the chinks in the armour of Punjab Kings.He wants the likes of the much prided Sam Curran and Johnny Bairstow to be sidelined in favour of upcoming and in- form better performers. He has even suggested a team composition for the next match. Let’s hope his critical assessment at this juncture is heeded by Punjab Kings.