'Very poor, extremely poor with their spin management' - Tom Moody scrutinizes Punjab Kings’ poor batting performance against GT

Former Australia cricketer Tom Moody recently came forward and lambasted Punjab Kings’ performance with the bat in their recent clash with Gujarat Titans in the ongoing IPL (Indian Premier League). Both sides faced off in the 37th game of the tournament at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Sunday, April 21. 

The clash saw Punjab Kings bat first, and the side failed to make an impact in the first innings. The side opened with Same Curran and Prabhsimran Singh scoring 20 and 35 runs, respectively. Jitesh Sharma scored 13 runs, with Harpreet Singh adding 14 and Harpreet Brar scoring 29 runs in 12 deliveries as Punjab posted a total of 142 runs in the first innings. 

The performance saw Tom Moody criticise PBKS’ batters, opining that the side faltered against Gujarat Titans’ spin attack of Noor Ahmed, Rashid Khan, and Sai Kishore.

“Very poor, extremely poor with their spin management. 7/68 off-spin was an absolute disaster. It was the way the players got out against spin that would be frustrating me the most. It looked reckless. I get the fact that you need to be proactive and busy,” Moody told ESPNcricinfo.

“Yes, GT have a good spin attack, but they would have gone into this contest knowing that would have been the challenge. It looked like a complete meltdown,” he added.

Punjab have themselves to blame: Wasim Jaffer

Furthermore, former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer came forward to opine that Punjab Kings only have themselves to blame. The former cricketer reflected on the performance of opener Prabhsimran Singh, and how he should have built his innings further. 

“Punjab have themselves to blame. Prabhsimran gave them a decent start, but he should have kicked on and got a much bigger score. I thought he should have taken a lot of responsibility, when you have got so many players who are out of form and not scoring runs, you get days like these,” Jaffer said.