For much of IPL 2026, Punjab Kings looked like a side sprinting ahead of the pack.
They chased down huge scores and played with a fearlessness that made them one of the most entertaining teams in the tournament. But things have taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks, with the Shreyas Iyer-led side suffering a fourth straight defeat, this time to Delhi Capitals (DC) in Dharamshala on Monday.
Defending 210 runs, PBKS watched DC chase the target down with an over to spare, but beyond the sloppy death bowling, one detail stood out: Yuzvendra Chahal not getting a single over.
It was a decision rooted in match-ups. DC had two left-handers – Axar Patel and David Miller – controlling the chase through the middle overs, and PBKS seemingly felt Chahal was too risky an option against them.
More importantly, this was not the first time this season that Iyer seemed reluctant to use him in uncomfortable match-ups.
Against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, Chahal bowled only one over while Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar were batting, with Iyer repeatedly backing his seamers instead. That hesitation has become a pattern. The leggie is rarely trusted in the powerplay, almost never used at the death and seems increasingly restricted to favourable right-hand match-ups in the middle overs.
He has taken only eight wickets in the nine matches he’s bowled in this season, with match-ups dictating his use more than his pedigree as a bowler.
The numbers explain part of that thinking.
Since IPL 2023, Chahal’s record against left-handers has steadily declined. In 48 innings against them, he has conceded 750 runs at an economy of 10.56 while taking only 18 wickets at a strike rate of 23.7.
The fall has been particularly alarming over the last two seasons. Since the start of IPL 2025, he has dismissed left-handers only five times, and those numbers seem to have affected PBKS’ tactical thinking throughout this season.
There have been clear examples this season of left-handers targeting and succeeding against him.
Against DC in Delhi, Nitish Rana faced up to Chahal by using his feet and the sweep, thereby preventing him from settling into a rhythm. Against MI at Wankhede, Quinton de Kock used his feet, swept aggressively and attacked both the leg break and wrong’un as Chahal leaked 45 runs in three overs.
Modern T20 batting line-ups are built around left-handers through the middle phase. Avoiding those match-ups entirely is difficult. Yet Chahal has found ways to fight back.
Against SRH, he dismissed Travis Head for 38 with a cleverly disguised wrong’un and returned with 1/32 in four overs. Against RR, he accounted for Yashasvi Jaiswal for 51 and was seen pointing towards Iyer soon after the dismissal, as if to suggest a plan had worked.
Those performances have been sporadic, but they still suggest Chahal remains capable of finding breakthroughs even in difficult match-ups.