Former cricketers question tactical call as Punjab suffer another disappointing IPL defeat at Dharamshala.
DHARAMSHALA
Shreyas Iyer came under heavy criticism after choosing not to use veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal during Punjab Kings’s defeat against Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2026 clash at Dharamshala.
Punjab slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat of the season as Delhi comfortably chased down the target, while Chahal remained an unused bowler throughout the contest despite being included in the playing XI as a specialist spinner.
The decision surprised many former cricketers and analysts, especially after Punjab’s pace attack struggled badly on a batting-friendly surface. Bowlers including Marcus Stoinis, Yash Thakur, Ben Dwarshuis and Marco Jansen all conceded runs at an economy rate exceeding 11 per over.
Former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh strongly criticised the tactical call, describing the move as “foolhardy”.
“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,” Ganesh wrote on social media.
Former India batter Mohammad Kaif also expressed surprise that neither side relied on spin despite statistics favouring slower bowlers at the venue in recent seasons.
“Seasoned match winners Axar Patel and Yuzi Chahal playing no role with the ball in a T20 game is puzzling,” Kaif posted.
Responding to the criticism after the match, Iyer explained that seam movement early in the innings influenced his decision to continue with the pacers instead of introducing Chahal into the attack.
“There was absolutely a thought in my mind, but the way the ball was seaming and helping seamers, I felt if we had executed our line and length precisely, we could have extracted wickets,” Iyer said during the post-match presentation.
However, Punjab’s seamers failed to make the expected impact as Delhi cruised to victory, leaving many questioning whether Chahal’s experience could have changed the outcome.