Last Updated:
Ricky Ponting praised Yuzvendra Chahal’s performance despite a shoulder injury, leading Punjab to a historic win over Kolkata Knight Riders.
Yuzvendra Chahal’s four-fer helped Punjab Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders. (Image: Sportzpics)
The Punjab Kings Head Coach, Ricky Ponting, made a startling revelation after the side’s historic win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday regarding Yuzvendra Chahal, who helped script a comeback for the ages.
During the post-match interview with the broadcasters, Ponting revealed that prior to their game, Chahal had to undergo a fitness test after having a shoulder injury from their game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“He actually had a fitness test before the game today with his shoulder injury he picked up in the last game, and I grabbed him out of the warm-up and looked him in the eye and said, ‘Mate, are you okay?’ He said Coach, I am 100 per cent right, let me out there, yeah, what a spell of bowling,” Ponting shared after the game.
But then Chahal went on to put up one of his best performances in the tournament, leading Punjab’s charge with a stellar four-wicket haul.
Ponting hailed his side for their resilience but remains critical of their batting performance. But the former Australian skipper appreciated their fight and remains proud of the performance.
“Even if we had lost that game, I couldn’t have been proud of the way we went about the second half. Our batting was poor, the shot selection and execution that was all poor, but when I saw us take the field and we got the wickets early on and what we have been lacking is, bit of belief to the ball and bit of energy in the field and that was there for everyone to see tonight,” he said.
“So, if we had gone down in a really close one, I would have been telling the guys that was actually a season-defining moment and might be now as well. To be able to dig deep and win a game like that, I reckon at the halfway mark there weren’t too many people around the world that thought that we could have defended it, and we have, credit to all the boys. They were terrific tonight,” he added.
The win takes Punjab Kings to eight points in the six games played so far. The good news for the Shreyas Iyer-led side is that they are level on points with the table-toppers Gujarat Titans and are down to fourth only because of their inferior net run-rate.
- Location :
Punjab, India, India
