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 misused experienced 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, batting first, made a good score of 163/9. They recovered from the early collapse to take their score to 47/5. The team led by Shubman Gill achieved the target of 164 runs with two balls to spare.
It was Shreyas Iyer’s decision not to bowl to Yuzvendra Chahal – Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag said that Shreyas Iyer misjudged his bowling plan by delaying the inclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal. He said that Iyer was forced to rely on an all-rounder for the decisive final over.
“I think Shreyas Iyer’s calculations were a bit wrong because he had to bowl the last over to Stoinis. Had that last over been bowled by Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett or Marco Johnson, perhaps PBKS could have won this match because there were 11 runs to defend,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
He said, “It was Shreyas Iyer’s decision not to bowl to Chahal and use his main bowlers till the 19th over and expect them to take wickets. Even Iyer must have felt that this match will not go till the end like this. Where Chahal should have bowled in the middle overs, he was not used there. I think if he was brought into the attack earlier, it could have been good. He could have bowled against Buttler. Could have.”
During the final over of the chase, Iyer gave the ball to Marcus Stoinis to defend 11 runs. He brought in Yuzvendra Chahal in the 14th over, but the spinner bowled only one over before going out.
It is not completely right to blame Shreyas Iyer – Manoj Tiwari
Manoj Tiwary agreed that Shreyas Iyer made a tactical mistake by using his main wrist spinner for only one over. While he acknowledged the risk of bowling to Yuzvendra Chahal against two left-handers, he said captains should rely on experienced wicket-taking bowlers.
“A mistake has been made. According to me, it is not completely right to blame Shreyas Iyer for this because when Chahal was brought in, he had given away 13 runs. But, he had to take a call to bring him in against two left-handed batsmen, because he could have given more runs or not, he had to take that call.”
“But I think you should always go with your experienced bowlers. If he gets bowled in the first over, there is no guarantee that he will give runs again. He could also bowl a good ball and bring them back into the game,” Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.
Yuzvendra Chahal tops this list – Manoj Tiwari
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 the left-hander was batting reduced Shreyas Iyer’s options in the death overs.
He further said, “It is so ingrained in the minds of captains that if they are left-handed batsmen that they should not bowl wrist spinners or left-arm spin, it is quite difficult to understand. If you look at Chahal’s wicket-taking statistics, he is at the top of the list. So, that mistake, where Chahal was not bowled, left Iyer with no options for the final over, where he could have defended.”
Chahal conceded 13 runs without taking any wicket in his only over against the left-handed pair of Sai Sudarshan and Washington Sundar. It was the fourth time in eight innings this season that he did not complete his full quota of four overs.
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