The Punjab Kings faced a 24-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore in their 2023 Indian Premier League match on Thursday afternoon. After being invited to bat by PBKS' stand-in skipper Sam Curran, the RCB posted a competitive total of 174/4 in 20 overs; their openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis posted a 137-run stand for the opening wicket. In reply, the Kings were bowled out on 150 with ten deliveries to spare.
The Kings endured a top and middle-order collapse, with the side being reduced to 43/4 inside the powerplay; the poor batting show forced bowling all-rounder Curran to bat early in the innings. Prabhsimran Singh, the other batter, scored a majority of the runs in a partnership with Curran that seemed to bring some stability to the PBKS' run-chase; however, the side's stand-in skipper gave his wicket away rather cheaply in the 10th over.
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A bit of lazy running cost Curran his wicket and the bowling all-rounder was clearly not happy with himself as he walked back towards the dressing room. And former India opener Virender Sehwag, who has worked with Punjab Kings – both as player and coach in the past – came down hardly at Curran for his lazy running-between-the-wickets.
{{/usCountry}}A bit of lazy running cost Curran his wicket and the bowling all-rounder was clearly not happy with himself as he walked back towards the dressing room. And former India opener Virender Sehwag, who has worked with Punjab Kings – both as player and coach in the past – came down hardly at Curran for his lazy running-between-the-wickets.
{{/usCountry}}“He's an international player. But you can't buy experience with 18 crore. It only comes when you play, when your hair turn white as you play under the hot sun,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
“We think just because he was bought for 18 crore, he will win you matches. But he doesn't have that experience yet. It was poor running, there was no need for that. You're captain, you should've stayed, tried to take it to the final overs. But again, the lack of experience cost him,” Sehwag further said.
Curran led the Punjab Kings in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, who is currently injured. Dhawan had missed the side's last two games – the other being against Lucknow Super Giants – but Curran stated at the toss against RCB that the star opener is closer to regaining full fitness.