New Delhi, April 1: In a thrilling encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Punjab Kings clinched a victory over Gujarat Titans by three wickets on Tuesday. The standout performance came from Punjab’s spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal, who took two wickets for just 28 runs. This win marked a strong start for Punjab Kings in the tournament.
Former Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble praised Chahal’s strategic acumen, particularly for his timely dismissals of Gujarat Titans’ captain Shubman Gill (39) and Jos Buttler (38). Kumble noted that these wickets came at a crucial moment, allowing Punjab to secure their win.
Thanks to Chahal’s impressive bowling and Vijaykumar Vaishak’s performance (34 runs for 3 wickets), Punjab Kings restricted Gujarat Titans to 162 runs for 8 wickets and chased down the target in just 19.1 overs.
Speaking on ‘JioHotstar’, Kumble remarked, “Yuzvendra Chahal is very smart. He varies his line and length and changes his pace. In short, he experiments with different tactics. He didn’t try too many variations to trap the batsmen but showed great intelligence by bowling slightly wider deliveries. He understood the pitch conditions and targeted a larger area of the field. He knew that if a batsman wanted to play a shot in that direction, they would have to connect well, which they failed to do.”
Kumble further added, “Chahal’s wicket of Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler came at the perfect time for Punjab Kings, as Gill was looking to capitalize on his strong start. Unfortunately for Gujarat Titans, their usual strategy of having one batsman anchor the innings until the 15th over did not work this time.”
Kumble also questioned the use of fast bowler Prasidh Krishna in the Gujarat Titans lineup, suggesting that the previous season’s ‘Purple Cap’ winner should have been brought in to bowl earlier in the innings.