New Chandigarh, March 31 (IANS) Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal said smart variations and use of flight helped him control the middle overs as Punjab Kings (PBKS) halted Gujarat Titans (GT) at 162/6 in their first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the PCA’s New International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Chahal was one of the standout performers with the ball, returning figures of 2-28 in his four overs and providing crucial breakthroughs at a key stage of the innings. His most important wicket came in the 10th over when he dismissed captain Shubman Gill, who was looking set after a steady start. The dismissal helped Punjab regain control after a strong power play from Gujarat.

Reflecting on his approach, Chahal explained how he assessed the conditions early and adapted accordingly.

“Definitely, in the evening when I saw the wicket, I thought it’d be dry. And when the fast bowlers start bowling cutters, I like a little bit of grip. You need to beat the batters in the flight here. I varied my pace and line, starting with some wide deliveries and then moving to the stumps line. Then I took a chance to get Shubman and put them under pressure,” he said.

The leg-spinner also underlined the importance of the powerplay phase, noting how scoring becomes more difficult as the innings progresses. “Power-play is very important, it’s easy to score runs with the new ball and hitting becomes harder as the ball gets old,” he added.

Gujarat Titans had got off to a brisk start through Gill and Sai Sudharsan, scoring freely in the early overs. However, Punjab Kings fought back strongly in the middle phase, with Chahal playing a key role in slowing the scoring rate and building pressure.

With this performance, Chahal further strengthened his record as the most successful bowler in the middle overs (7-15) in IPL history. He now has 138 wickets in this phase at an average of 25.34, ahead of Ravindra Jadeja (136), Piyush Chawla (132), Amit Mishra (126), and Rashid Khan (102).

–IANS

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