Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was furious during his commentary stint as Punjab Kings’ batting fell apart like a pack of cards, calling the shambolic display ‘unbelievable’ and ‘suicidal’, as PBKS lost a golden chance of directly qualifying for the finals of IPL 2025.
The decision to attack from ball one, despite setbacks, bit Punjab back, and Gavaskar was not too happy with the way their batters gifted their wickets to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers.
Punjab were bowled out for a paltry 101, with Marcus Stoinis’ 17-ball 26 the highest score among them.
“This is unbelievable. This is committing suicide, isn’t it?” Gavaskar questioned as Stoinis was dismissed by Suyash Sharma in the 11th over, leaving bleak chances of Punjab putting up a respectable score.
PBKS’ ultra-aggressive approach backfired on the day as Bengaluru skittled out the home team for a paltry 101, bowling them out in the 15th over.
Punjab, who reached the play-offs for the first time in over a decade, will get another shot at reaching the final in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on Sunday, June 1.
Earlier, the all-out attack strategy of Punjab contributed to their downfall after they were put in to bat. Their innings lasted less than 15 overs. The Bengaluru pace trio of Josh Hazlewood (3/21), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/17) and Yash Dayal (2/26) exploited the conditions well before leg-spinner Suyash (3/17) made it worse for the opposition.
Punjab’s steep slide started when in-form opener Priyansh Arya was caught at cover off Dayal as he could not check his drive. His fellow opener Prabhsimran Singh (18 off 10) followed him back into the dugout in the following over from Bhuvneshwar.
