Sunil Gavaskar Doesn't Spare Shreyas Iyer, Shows Punjab Kings The Mirror After 5 Straight Losses

Punjab Kings' fifth consecutive defeat of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season has cast a shadow over their once-bright hopes of reaching the playoffs. Still placed fourth in the points table, PBKS need to win both of their remaining matches in order to reach the next round. The franchise finds itself in such a situation after going down to the Mumbai Indians on Thursday, in a match they seemed to have in their grip for the most part. Seeing MI chase down the target of 201 runs, Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar was left scratching his head.

Gavaskar, not known to mince his words, admitted that he was surprised to see Mumbai scoring 53 runs in the final three overs against Punjab in Dharamsala. He also didn't spare PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer for his failure with the bat, saying the team would have scored 20-30 more runs had he remained on the pitch for a longer period. He even questioned Iyer's refusal to give Bartlett the new ball on the helpful pitch.

"This was a game Punjab Kings should have won after scoring 53 runs in the last three overs to get past 200. At that stage, they had the momentum and looked in control. But their bowling remains a concern. Shreyas Iyer's failure also hurt because when he scores, Punjab usually gets another 20-30 runs, which could have made the difference. Bartlett has been expensive, and I was surprised he wasn't given the new ball on a helpful pitch," Gavaskar said during a chat on Star Sports' 'Amul Cricket Live'.

"Azmatullah Omarzai was outstanding with both bat and ball, and perhaps Punjab should continue backing him while also considering Marcus Stoinis for added batting depth," he added.

Former India batter Sanjay Bangar echoed Gavaskar's sentiments, whilst also highlighting Iyer's decision to use just five bowlers against Mumbai as a decisive factor.

"Shreyas Iyer used only five bowlers in this game, and there was always going to be a point when the batters targeted Bartlett. Chahal and Arshdeep had bowled extremely well until then. In a way, Punjab Kings took away their own advantage. If you look at Rohit Sharma's innings and Rutherford's innings combined, they scored only 45 runs off 47 balls," he said.

Bangar also reserved special praise for Mumbai's Tilak Varma, who took the responsibility on his shoulders and played the lead role in helping the team score about 150 runs in the last 12 overs.

"That meant Mumbai Indians still needed around 150 runs in the remaining 12 overs. So, it was a terrific effort from Tilak Varma to keep Mumbai Indians in the hunt despite those low strike-rate innings from the other batters. Overall, it was a remarkable finish to the chase," he said.

If PBKS are to qualify for the playoffs, they must win their remaining two games at all costs.

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Topics mentioned in this article

Punjab Kings Mumbai Indians Tilak Varma Shreyas Iyer Sunil Gavaskar IPL 2026 Cricket