Punjab Kings batting coach Wasim Jaffer has opened up on the victory against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a video uploaded by Punjab Kings’ official Twitter handle on Friday.
Punjab King’s were struggling their way out in their batting middle order for almost the whole IPL 2021 season including yesterday’s match where big guns like Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, and Deepak Hooda didn’t score runs. Things remained tense even as Punjab needed only five runs off the final over. With KL Rahul getting out in the last over the drama was intense. But Shahrukh Khan smashed a six off the third ball to gun down 166 with five wickets to spare.
"I knew that I needed just one good hit!" @shahrukh_35 on finishing the game with a six 🗣️#SaddaPunjab #IPL2021 #PunjabKings #KKRvPBKS pic.twitter.com/4BggIJVRVd
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) October 2, 2021
Wasim Jaffer was delighted after their 5th victory of the season against KKR last night. However, he opened up about the nervous moments the PKBS dugout has faced through the IPL 2021 season.
“It was very tense as usual. We never make it easy for ourselves, so similar, but glad we came out on the right side of the game. So, very happy we pulled this one-off,” Wasim Jaffer said.
The power-pack opening duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal gave the best possible start to their innings with a 70 run stand. Rahul earned the man of the match award as he scored 67 off 55 deliveries. He also achieved a personal milestone by earning the orange cap (489 runs) crossing in-form Shikhar Dhawan.
Shahrukh Khan worked really hard coming into this game – Wasim Jaffer
Shahrukh Khan was one of the most deserving players to get the IPL contract few years back but better late than never, he is proving why he is rated so highly in domestic cricket. pic.twitter.com/gZN9YpKYFd
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 1, 2021
Wasim Jaffer praised the youngster Shahrukh Khan for his preparations in the last encounter against KKR. The young batsman from Tamil Nadu played a quickfire knock of 22 runs from nine deliveries to seal the deal.
“He is an exciting talent and he performed against Shahrukh’s team, which is a very unique thing. But I’m happy for him. He worked really hard coming into this game. But really happy that we went over the line finally, so hopefully fingers crossed for the next two games,” Jaffer added.
With five victories under their belt, the Punjab Kings strive their way out to the fifth position on the points table, surpassing Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. They are still in the contingent to finish in the playoff if they win their remaining encounters against the table-toppers Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Banglore.