‘I drove Chahal out of the warm-up, looked at him in the eye and …’: A big revelation of Ponting after Yuji’s KKR Stunner
Shreyas Iyer and Punjab Kings pulled out a rabbit from the cap as the side defended the lowest clan in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in New Chandigarh on Tuesday. After exiting for 111, no one gave Punjab Kings a chance, but the hosts returned from behind to register one of the most famous victories in the history of the tournament. Yuzvendra Chahal was a standout artist on returning with four wickets.
After winning against defending champion KKR, Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting revealed that Chahal was not going to the competition completely as he suffered a shoulder injury in the last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Ponting then talked about his chat with leg-spinner during the warm-up and how Chahal’s confidence shocked him.
“What about Chahal tonight? How good the bowling was a good magic! He was really a fitness test before the game. Today he picked up his shoulder injury in the last game, and I picked him up out of the warm-up, looked at him in the eye, and said, ‘Met, are you fine?’ He said that I am 100 percent right coach, let me go out of there, “Ponting told the host broadcaster.
Against KKR, Chahal was introduced in the seventh position of the innings, with KKR strong at 62/2. However, the 34 -year -old rejected KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane. He then dismissed Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh to put a match in favor of Punjab Kings.
It should be mentioned that going to the competition against KKR, Chahal looked completely out of rhythm, and the wickets were difficult to come. He was also called by former India cricketers Wasim Jafar and Piyush Chawla for defensive bowling.
‘The best victory I have won in IPL’
After Marco Jansen took the final wicket of Andre Russell, Ricky Ponting could not control his feelings in the dugout. He was fully pumped, celebrating with the rest of the assistant employees and squad.
In the competition against KKR, PBKS captain Shres won the toss and opted to bat. However, this side was excluded for 111 as Harshit Rana took three wickets.
Ponting called this victory the best he has ever done as a coach in the IPL.
“Heart rate is still there. I am now 50 years old and do not require more sports like these. Defending 112, our sleeves with 16 runs.
“I consider half a way mark that there were not many people from all over the world, who thought we can defend it and we have credit to all boys. They were very spectacular tonight. These kinds of victories are always the most cute, and if you can pull it, you should be as good as most people were and I do the best work.”
