PBKS vs MI: 'Incredible knock from Ashutosh Sharma, but...' - Sam Curran's huge remark after defeat in thriller

Under the leadership of stand-in captain Sam Curran Punjab Kings (PBKS) faced off against the Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 33rd match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Thursday, April 18, at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.

Punjab Kings won the toss and opted to bowl first in the match. They made a huge change to their playing XI by dropping Jonny Bairstow and replacing him with Rilee Rossouw. Bowling first, Kagiso Rabada managed to dismiss Ishan Kishan in the 3rd over but after that things didn't go in their favour. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma took the bowlers to the cleaners and MI posted 192/7 on the board.

Chasing the target, Punjab Kings were off to an awful start as they were reduced to 4-14. As the PBKS lost quick wickets on regular intervals, the onus was on Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma to bat well and the duo didn't disappoint. Ashutosh was the top performer for the team as he slammed a terrific half-century but no support from the other end meant that the PBKS were bundled out for 183 and they lost by 9 runs.

Speaking after the match, Sam Curran expressed his disappointment over losing yet another close game in the Indian Premier League. He, however, was mighty impressed with the duo of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma for once again batting brilliantly in the match. Sam Curran elaborated:

"Another close one, I think this team likes a close one, but unfortunately another loss. Another incredible knock from the young guy (on Ashutosh), but another close loss. It's very tough, you want to lose close games rather than getting absolutely thumped, but we've lost a lot of wickets at the start, the way the younger guys have taken the team so close is heartening (on Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma). 

"They have incredible confidence, you see a guy like Ashutosh having the confidence to play the sweeps and the big hits against pacers, it's so great to watch them in action."

Sam Curran admitted that they are disheartened after losing back-to-back close games but said that they still have the belief to turn things around and bounce back strong. Sam Curran said:

"It's disheartening to lose close games, but there are a lot of positives in this team. We still have the belief in us, we believe we can turn this around, the sun will come up tomorrow and we will hopefully get on a winning run."

Punjab Kings' Current Position In IPL 2024 Standings And Their Previous Match Result 

Ahead of the Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians clash, the former were sitting at the eighth position on the Indian Premier League 2024 points table with 2 wins and 4 points from 6 matches. Now after the conclusion of the match against the Mumbai Indians, they have moved down to the ninth spot.

In their previous match, Punjab Kings hosted Rajasthan Royals at home in the 27th match of the Indian Premier League on April 13. They lost the match in the last over by 3 wickets. Batting first, PBKS posted 147/8 on the board with three players - Ashutosh Sharma (31), Jitesh Sharma (29) and Liam Livingstone (21 ) -breaching 20-run mark.

While defending the target, Punjab Kings bowlers did a good job and took the game to the last over. However, they weren't successful as on the second-last ball of the match, RR completed the run-chase. For Punjab Kings, Sam Curran and Kagiso Rabada picked up two wickets each while Harshal Patel, Liam Livingstone, and Arshdeep Singh bagged one wicket each.