Punjab Kings head coach Sanjay Bangar on Sunday rued that winning just one out of their seven home matches had played a role in their below-par Indian Premier League season as they finished ninth out of 10 teams in the highly competitive T20 tournament.
Punjab Kings lost by four wickets to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday to finish their league engagement on 10 points from 14 matches.
"We could not adapt to the home conditions. We won four out of the seven away matches but out of the seven home matches we just managed to win one. So, if a team has to progress in a tournament, certainly that is a worrying aspect," Bangar said at the post-match press conference.
"The four games we lost back-to-back through midseason, all of their home matches, and the two close games we lost, hurt us. In some matches that went down the wire, we could not win the crucial moments. If you leave so many things to be done in the later half of the season then it's always a challenge." Bangar said the batting show of the domestic players Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma was one of the positives of his side this season.
"If you look at the performances of the domestic batsmen Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, those are the real positives for us as far as our season goes in the batting department." The former India batter said the loss of players like Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada hurt the team.
"When we went to the auction, the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) had made it clear that all the players would be available. It is just that it so happens that the tournament got slightly extended, I would say, because of multiple reasons. Everybody was in a similar position but we lost those English players," he said.
"For us, even losing Livingstone with a niggle around his knee, the ECB pulling him out. Even KG (Kagiso Rabada) had an infection and he had to go back (to South Africa). Those things coupled together meant that when we came to the last two matches, we were short of players of international pedigree and experience.
"That hurt us but that is not the sole reason why our season was below par." He said about Sunday's match against SRH, "We could not contain them (SRH batters) after having the wicket of Travis Head first ball. We could have bowled a little bit better.
"Once the field spread out we could have applied a little more pressure on them. We have given away 15-20 runs too many in powerplay."
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