Punjab Kings are playing an entertaining brand of cricket, they score 190 even if they lose wickets: Wasim Jaffer

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) has three victories in five league matches of IPL 2022, and are at fifth position in the points table. In the last fixture against Mumbai Indians (MI), they posted a score of 198 and won by 12 runs. They are currently up against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 28 of the tournament. The former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer gave his view on the mindset of PBKS and analysed their batters as well as bowlers.

Jaffer reckoned that the team is playing an entertaining brand of cricket and felt that if the team does not lose too many wickets and plays with the same aggressiveness, they might score over 200 on a consistent basis in the tournament. On being asked about Mayank Agarwal coming into form, Jaffer hailed his skills and added that he was trying too hard in the earlier matches.

“They are playing the most aggressive and entertaining cricket and even if they keep losing wickets, they end up scoring 190. But, if they don’t lose wickets and play their brand of cricket, then you might see the totals of 220-225 posted by them. If Livingstone stays for 30-40 balls, then it might happen,” said Wasim Jaffer on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket Show’ on CricTracker.

“I think Mayank is a quality player, and when you score runs as a captain, it becomes easy to talk with the team members and the confidence is different,” he added.

There are not enough wicket-taking options in PBKS: Wasim Jaffer

Jaffer said that that PBKS rely on the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar to pick wickets, while Vaibhav Arora has been a little expensive in the last two matches, and Arshdeep Singh has done well but does not have enough wickets under his belt.

“There has been a pressure on the likes of Rabada and Chahar to pick up wickets, while Arora has been below-par in the last two matches. Arshdeep has been economical but has not picked enough wickets. The same goes with Odean Smith, who takes wickets in the death overs only,” Jaffer said.

The former cricketer further shared his views on the pattern of the teams opting to bowl first and then chase down the score. He believes that this pattern might change soon as the spinners find purchase with the rough patches developing as the tournament progresses.

“The pattern might change as the teams have started to win the matches by batting first as well. Like the RCB team posted a total of 190 and defended it last night. I think as the tournament progresses, the ball which was coming to bat nicely will be lessened and spinners will be causing some trouble to the batters,” Jaffer added.