Delhi: Punjab Kings (PBKS) fast bowling coach and former Australia player James Hops believes that his team is not able to take full advantage of his star leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal this season. Chahal has so far participated in all five matches for PBKS, but has taken only two wickets. Apart from this, he has put all his four overs in only two matches.
James Hops said, “With our bowling attack, we have to bring Uzi first in the match. The team has not been able to take advantage of them right now. He got only one over against Chennai – that too was a very good over at a very important time, but it is a matter to bring them to this tournament correctly.”
He further said, “We have played five matches, and if we want to win the IPL, we will need them. We now have a month and a half, so that we can include them in the true sense in the tournament.”
Significantly, Rajasthan Royals (RR) released Chahal before the previous mega auction, after which the Punjab franchise spent a huge Rs 18 crore on him, while RR bought him in 2022 for just 6.5 crores. In his first season for Rajasthan, Chahal won the purple cap with 27 wickets in 17 matches and took the team to the final.
In 2023, he took 21 wickets for RR, and took 18 wickets in 2024. But, by playing five matches so far this season, he has taken only two wickets and his economy rate is 11.13, which is his worst performance in the IPL.
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(Tagstotranslate) IPL 2025 (T) Punjab Kings (T) Yuzvendra Chahal