“PBKS Won’t Win The IPL Trophy This Season”- Manoj Tiwary Takes Brutal Dig

The former Indian middle-order batter, Manoj Tiwary, reckoned that Punjab Kings (PBKS) won’t be able to lift the trophy in IPL 2025 because of the franchise’s head coach, Ricky Ponting’s lack of trust in the Indian players.

PBKS, after the washout result against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, is sitting at the fourth position in the points table with five wins in nine games at a net run rate of +0.177. Technically, they will need three more wins in five encounters to qualify for the top four spots.

“PBKS showed a lack of confidence in Indian players”- Manoj Tiwary

The former Bengal captain reckoned that the PBKS head coach, despite having an opportunity to send the Indian batters in the middle, didn’t show trust in the youngsters and went ahead with the overseas players. He feels this will be the reason behind the franchise’s demotion in the competition’s knockout stage.

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“My gut feeling says that the Punjab team will not be able to win the #IPL trophy this season because what I saw today when they were batting was that the coach didn’t send Indian to inform batters Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh.” Tiwary wrote on his X account (formerly known as Twitter).

“Instead, he trusted his foreign players to deliver, but they couldn’t and clearly showed a lack of confidence in Indian players down the order. If he persists in this way, then the title is far from them, irrespective of their qualification in the top two.” The former Indian batter claimed.

The 24-year-old Wadhera has been in decent touch for the Kings this year with 189 runs in seven innings at an average of 37.80 and a strike rate of 146.51, thanks to one fifty at the best score of 62 runs.

On the other hand, Shashank Singh scored a fifty against the Chennai Super Kings, where they lost so many wickets in the middle overs and were at risk of getting bundled out cheaply.

PBKS showed dominant batting vs KKR

Shreyas Iyer, the Punjab captain, on winning the toss, decided to bat first on a slow and low Eden Gardens surface. The 120-run opening stand in just 12 overs between Priyansh Arya (69 runs in 35 balls, thanks to eight boundaries and four sixes) and Prabhsimran Singh (83 runs in 49 balls at a strike rate of 170) grabbed the early momentum.

Iyer also nailed 25 unbeaten runs in 16 balls, shouldering on one four and one six at a strike rate of 156.25. Glenn Maxwell’s hard time continues in the middle, with seven runs in eight balls.

PBKS posted 201/4 in their 20 overs before the rain stopped the action after just one over in the second inning. And it had the last laugh as the game ended with no result. Kolkata will now find themselves in a tough position of requiring five wins in as many games.

PBKS faces a new challenge in the business end

For the Punjab Kings, it will be a challenge to play their last two home games at a different venue. They will travel to the MA Chidambaram Stadium for the away fixture against the Chennai Super Kings on April 30, but their last two home games will be at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala.

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Punjab will need to win three to four games in the last five clashes to confirm their qualification in the top-four spot among the ten franchises.