Former Indian cricketers Virender Sehwag and Manoj Tiwary criticized Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer for his bowling decisions against Gujarat Titans (GT) during the IPL 2026 season. Sehwag and Tiwary said that Shreyas made poor use of veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal while defending the target.
Gujarat Titans defeated Punjab Kings by four wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 3. Punjab posted a decent total of 163/9 after electing to bat first. They recovered from an early collapse that left them at 47/5. The Shubman Gill-led side chased the 164-run target with two balls to spare.
It Was Shreyas Iyer’s Decision To Not Bowl Yuzvendra Chahal – Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag said that Shreyas Iyer misjudged his bowling plans by delaying Yuzvendra Chahal’s introduction. He added that Iyer was forced to rely on an all-rounder for the crucial final over.
“I think Shreyas Iyer’s calculations were a bit wrong, because he had to give the last over to Stoinis. If that last over was bowled by Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett, or Marco Jansen, then maybe PBKS could have won this match, because there were 11 runs to defend,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
“It was Shreyas Iyer’s decision to not bowl Chahal, and use his main bowlers till the 19th over, and hope that they take wickets. Even Iyer must have felt that this match might not go till the end like this. Where Chahal should have bowled in the middle overs, he was not used. I think that if he was brought earlier into the attack, then that might have been good. He could have bowled against Buttler,” he added.
During the final over of the chase, Iyer gave the ball to Marcus Stoinis with 11 runs to defend. He had introduced Yuzvendra Chahal in the 14th over, but the spinner bowled only one over before being taken off.
It Is Not Entirely Right To Blame Shreyas Iyer – Manoj Tiwary
Manoj Tiwary agreed that Shreyas Iyer made a tactical error by using his main wrist-spinner for only one over. While he acknowledged the risk of bowling Yuzvendra Chahal against two left-handers, he said that captains should trust experienced wicket-taking bowlers.
“There has been a mistake. According to me, it is not entirely right to blame Shreyas Iyer for that because when Chahal was brought on, he gave away 13 runs. But, he had the call to make to bring him on against two left-handers, because he could have conceded more runs or even not, he had to make that call.”
“But I feel that you should always go with your experienced bowlers. If he gets hit in the first over, then there is no guarantee that he will go for runs again. He could have even bowled a good ball and brought them back into the game,” Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.
Yuzvendra Chahal Is At The Top Of The List – Manoj Tiwary
Manoj Tiwary also criticized the modern trend where captains avoid using their main spinners due to match-ups. He argued that ignoring Yuzvendra Chahal’s proven wicket-taking ability just because left-handers were batting reduced Shreyas Iyer’s options in the death overs.
“The thought that has gone into captains’ mind that if there are left-handed batters then they should not bowl wrist spinners or left-arm spin, that is quite difficult to understand. If you see the wicket-taking stats of Chahal, he is at the top of the list. So, that mistake, where Chahal was not bowled, did not leave Iyer options for the final over, where they could have defended,” he continued.
Chahal conceded 13 runs without taking a wicket in his only over against the left-handed pair of Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar. This was the fourth time in eight innings this season that he did not complete his full four-over quota.
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