Follow UsFormer Sri Lanka allrounder Russel Arnold felt that Punjab Kings' commitment to their game plan has helped them come back from a defeat to outclass defending champions Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.
After their losing second IPL 2022 match to Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets, Punjab Kings put in an allround performance to register a 54-run win at the Brabourne Stadium.
"What stood out for me was Punjab Kings have a game plan. Yes, it went wrong in the last game and they lost their way. But you accept that and stick to the plan of batting first with the dew coming on later and get those extra runs," Arnold said in Cricket.com's match review.
"They made few changes to the batting order. They dropped Raja Bawa, who was a bit scratchy and in comes another debutant (Jitesh Sharma), like any other young Indian player, is full of confidence and power."
"It's their attitude that stood out. Not falling by the wayside after just one failure. If they keep going like this and also finish up, they will be batting teams out of this tournament more often."
England big hitter Liam Livingstone finally found form in the IPL as he smashed a 32-ball 60 and claimed 2-25.
"Liam Livingstone is finally showing what he is capable of. The other day we were discussing if 'Bairstow was coming in, who do they leave out? It was probably Livingstone.' But right now it will be a selection headache," Arnold said.
Speaking about debutant Vaibhav Arora, who claimed 2-21 in his 4 fours, Arnold explained: "The pace at which Arora bowls is very tricky.125-130 kmph is something which the batsmen can see. He just wobbles the ball a bit. The batsmen are drawn into shots which aren't really there and are not sure because it's on the slower side."
Punjab batted at a run rate close to 10 RPO until the 16th over which has been their approach in the last two games as well. Arnold felt that a strong middle order gives them the license to play the big shots but need to look after their momentum at the death.
"Teams are finding their identity after the mega auction. I think this is how Punjab Kings will go because they have a strong middle order. But in the last few over, they can't have the bowlers in. That means they are losing the plot altogether," he said.
Arnold also felt the bowling performances of Chris Jordan (2-23) and Dwayne Pretorius (2-30) is something CSK will look to build on.
"Jordan and Pretorius bowled like the olden days where they made use of the yorkers very effectively. We wonder why it has gone out of the window," Arnold explained.
The duo bowled in tandem to restricted Punjab to 180/6 in 20 overs after 200 looked like a par score.
"But from the position Punjab Kings were in, to pull it back like that in good batting conditions and lightning-fast outfields shows how good they bowled. The fact that Ravindra Jadeja didn't bowl or didn't go with Dwayne Bravo, his go-to bowler, because these two stood up. Going forward, CSK will look to build around these two," the 48-year old said.
CSK suffered a dramatic batting collapse as they lost four wickets in the power play and were 36/5 by the eighth over. Arnold felt that CSK will have to work a lot with the players they have.
"I think they were not there at all. Punjab bowlers bowled well. The fact that Arora, another debutant, put them under all sorts of pressure with his movement shows they are low on confidence. Gaikwad, Uthappa and even Ambati Rayudu, just don't seem to be up with the speed of the game at the moment," Arnold said.
"CSK have a lot of work to do. They need these players to turn their games around. They have to look inside because I don't see not many players CSK can bring in to the team," Arnold added.