Charl Langeveldt, the bowling coach for the Punjab Kings, has urged his hitters to “get more runs on the board” following another setback this season. PBKS has already lost six of its eight games, including all but one at their new home base in Mullanpur.
PBKS suffered a classic batting collapse after stand-in skipper Sam Curran chose to bat first on a used wicket. However, despite a half-century opening stand, the home side lost 7 for 47 runs. Even Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma were unable to rescue PBKS this time, resulting in a team total of 142 all out.
“Disappointing. Players are hurt as well as the staff and the fans,” Langeveldt said. “We showed a lot of character with the ball. We had a good powerplay with the bat for the first time in three games but in the middle period, their spinners were too quality for our batters and we struggled. We just need middle order upfront to get more runs. We were probably 20 runs short on that wicket.”
Gujarat Titans spinners bowled 13 overs in total, the most by a team this season, and picked up seven wickets. R Sai Kishore was the standout, going 4 for 33. In response, PBKS had to make due with Rahul Chahar on the bench because Harpreet Singh Bhatia was preferred as an Impact Player substitute in the midst of the collapse.
“It was the idea, we could have another spinner [Rahul] Chahar to play in but obviously when you’re batting and you’ve had a collapse like that, it’s better to get the runs on board,” Langeveldt reasoned. “That’s something we want to improve, get more runs on the board. We are gonna travel now and we are gonna play on better batting wickets and that would give the batters a bit more confidence going into the last few games. We take every game like a semi-final, final but yeah, it’s one of those things.
“The batters are definitely going to be happy about the next venue [Eden Gardens, Kolkata]. The bowlers need to step up as well when we play at different venues, higher scoring grounds. Hopefully our batters will come good for us.”
With more than half of the league matches completed, PBKS is second to last in the points table, although Langeveldt remains optimistic about the season’s outcome.
“We still have to have that belief. We are a positive side; the boys showed a lot of character in the field. There’s a lot to play for, we just need to win.”
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