Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar feels that the Punjab Kings (PBKS) should have won the game against the Mumbai Indians (MI), but they lost the match after scoring 200 runs in the first innings. PBKS had recovered brilliantly in the final overs after a middle-overs collapse, with Azmatullah Omarzai helping to push the total to 200. Omarzai smashed 38 off just 17 balls, while opener Prabhsimran Singh earlier scored 57 off 32 deliveries as well. However, the MI chased down the target with one ball to spare, thanks to an unbeaten 75 from Tilak Varma and a quick start from Ryan Rickelton.

Reflecting on the result, Gavaskar told Jio Hotstar , “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. Shreyas Iyer’s failure also hurt because when he scores, Punjab usually gets another 20-30 runs, which could have made the difference.”

He also questioned some of Punjab’s bowling decisions, especially the use of Xavier Bartlett, who failed to take a wicket and proved expensive. He also gave away 53 runs in 3.5 overs.

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“Bartlett has been expensive, and I was surprised he wasn’t given the new ball on a helpful pitch,” he said. “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.