Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer was quick to point out his bowling unit’s underwhelming performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match against the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Monday. As Punjab suffered their fourth consecutive defeat of the season, Iyer was torn into by former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh, who called the decision not to hand a single over to the team’s primary spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal, “foolhardy”. Chahal ended the match as an unused bowler, while the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Yash Thakur, Ben Dwarshuis, and Marco Jansen all conceded over 11 runs per over.
It is extremely rare for a spinner to go completely unused in a match. Chahal, who was part of the XI as a specialist bowler, kept waiting for an opportunity at the scenic Himachal Pradesh Cricket Stadium in Dharamsala. But, skipper Shreyas simply refused to toss the ball to him.
Baffled by the decision, Ganesh said: “So, Chahal doesn’t get to bowl at all. Goodness gracious! To think that a champion bowler like Chahal wouldn’t have induced one mistake from those left-handers’ bats is foolhardy to say the least. He any day has a better chance of picking wickets than Stoinis. When will this ridiculous match-up game stop?”
So, Chahal doesn’t get to bowl at all. Goodness gracious! To think that a champion bowler like Chahal wouldn’t have induced one mistake from those left handers’ bat is foolhardy to say the least. He any day has a better chance of picking wickets than Stoinis. When will this…
— Dodda Ganesh | (@doddaganesha) May 11, 2026
Even former India batter Mohammad Kaif was stunned to see not a single spin bowling being used by either Axar Patel or Shreyas in the match.
“Surprising how no spinner was used by DC and Punjab at Dharamshala. Statistics show how spinners have better economy than pacers at this ground since 2023. Seasoned match winners Axar Patel and Yuzi Chahal playing no role with the ball in a T20 game is puzzling,” he said.
Surprising how no spinner was used by DC and Punjab at Dharamshala. Statistics show how spinners have better economy than pacers at this ground since 2023. Seasoned match winners Axar Patel and Yuzi Chahal playing no role with the ball in a T20 game is puzzling.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 11, 2026
What Shreyas Iyer Said On Snubbing Yuzvendra Chahal
The PBKS captain was asked about overlooking Chahal with the ball in the post-match presentation ceremony. He admitted that there was a thought of giving the leg-spinner an opportunity, but he decided to persist with the pacers as the ball was seaming.
“There was absolutely a thought in my mind, but the way ball was seaming and the way it was helping seamers, I think if we would have executed our line and length precisely, we could have been able to extract wickets, but unfortunately again, we didn’t,” Shreyas Iyer said.
Featured Video Of The Day
IPL 2026 | Delhi Capitals Wins By 6 Wickets Against Mumbai Indians: Redemption For Sameer Rizvi
Topics mentioned in this article