Punjab Kings (PBKS) are not getting the most out of their ace legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal, according to their fast-bowling coach James Hopes. Chahal has played in all of PBKS' five games so far but has picked only two wickets to average 83.50, and has finished his quota of four overs in only two games.
In fact, in PBKS' 18-run win against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Chahal was brought on only in the 17th over. He conceded just nine runs although PBKS already held the advantage, and didn't bowl again in that game.
"With our bowling attack, we need to get Yuzi in into the game more than we're doing; like he's just struggling to get into the game at the moment," Hopes said a day before PBKS' next fixture, against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Mullanpur on Tuesday. "Like against Chennai, just buying the one over - a very good over at a very important time - he bowled a very good over, but it's just [about] getting him into the tournament.
"We're five games in, and for us to win the IPL, we're gonna need him. So we have a month and a half now to try and get him into the tournament proper."
Chahal was released by Rajasthan Royals (RR) before the last mega auction, where PBKS spent a whopping INR 18 crore on him compared to the INR 6.5 crore RR had paid him in 2022. In his first year with RR, Chahal had finished as the Purple Cap holder with 27 wickets in 17 innings with an economy rate of 7.75. RR reached the final, where they lost to Gujarat Titans (GT). In 2023, Chahal bagged 21 wickets for RR, and another 18 in 2024. But with five out of PBKS' 14 league games done this season, he has just two wickets to his name and an economy rate of 11.13, his worst in any IPL season.
"We need to get Yuzi into the tournament a little bit - like he's being used in a lot of different roles at a lot of different times at the moment," Hopes said. "And we're very pace-heavy at the moment. I think we need to find a way to get more spin into our bowling attack, and hopefully, we see that over the next few games."
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer has given his spinners only 26 overs so far, the fewest for any team this IPL, whereas three teams have bowled over 50 overs of spin. Chahal, the highest wicket-taker overall in IPL, could take confidence from that fact that his second-best wickets tally is against KKR, with 29 strikes from 22 innings. His best IPL figures of 5 for 40 also came against KKR in 2022. He enjoys a strong match-up too against KKR opener Quinton de Kock, although Chahal hasn't bowled in the powerplay so far this IPL.
Another concern for PBKS through this IPL has been their catching, or the lack of it. According to Hopes, they have put down 12 chances so far this season, including the one Chahal spilled of Abhishek Sharma on 56, before the batter went on to smash 141 off 55 balls in Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) eight-wicket win while hunting down 246.
"Yeah, it's not just the last match that I'm a little bit concerned about," Hopes said. "I think we've dropped 12 catches for the tournament now, which is a bit more of concern on our front. If we took care of our catches, I could be sitting here with us having a four-and-one [win-loss] record. But we can't do anything other than keep the boys working on it, keep the boys trying to be better in the field, and they try.
"Dropped catches happen, and they're happening a bit to us in the last few games. If that turns a little bit and our boys start holding on to them, start getting a couple of half-chances, well, hopefully we're on the right side of the ledger going forward."