Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) : Following his side’s four-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals which ended their campaign in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shikhar Dhawan on Friday expressed disappointment with his side’s fielding performance, saying that dropped catches cost his team the match.
Dhruv Jurel’s final over six clinched the victory for Rajasthan Royals and ended Punjab Kings’ hopes of sealing their place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Friday. “We lost too many wickets in the powerplay and that put us on the back foot, but Curran, Jitesh and Shahrukh got us back in the game, the bowling was good (in patches), but the fielding was not great, the dropped catches cost us the game. I feel 200 should have been a good total on this pitch. We could have done better in all the areas I think. Sometimes the batting was clicking, and sometimes the bowling was clicking, we could not put up those performances together,” Dhawan said in a post-match presentation.
The skipper said that he has a young side and has learnt a lot in this season.
“But it is a young group, so we have learnt a lot of things this season. I knew I had to take the game deep, so I wanted my best bowlers to bowl early, so Rahul had to bowl the last over. In the last game, I gave Harpreet the final over, it depends on the surface and the situation,” Dhawan said.
