Explained: Why Yuzvendra Chahal was left unused by Shreyas Iyer in PBKS vs DC IPL 2026 clash

Explained: Why Yuzvendra Chahal was left unused by Shreyas Iyer in PBKS vs DC IPL 2026 clash originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• PBKS suffered their fourth consecutive loss against DC on Monday. 
• Shreyas Iyer did not give bowling to Yuzvendra Chahal throughout the IPL clash. 
• Chahal's performance against left-arm batters in IPL has been dismal. 

Yuzvendra Chahal was left unused by Shreyas Iyer in PBKS vs DC

Punjab Kings have experienced a sudden dip in form after going unbeaten in their first seven matches. They headed into the DC clash with the hope of ending their three-match losing streak and reclaiming the top position on the league table, however, things did not go as planned.

PBKS made a fiery start courtesy of a brilliant half-century from Priyansh Arya, but after the openers departed, their innings slowed down a bit and they ended up posting 210 runs on the board, thanks to Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 50.

DC lost three top-order wickets in quick succession and were under immense pressure after the powerplay but Axar Patel played a captain's knock in the middle overs and formed important partnerships with Tristan Stubbs and David Miller to anchor his team's innings.

Ultimately, Ashutosh Sharma and Madhav Tiwary played quality cameo knocks to make sure DC crossed the line and kept their playoff hopes alive.

While defending 210 runs, Iyer used only five bowlers, all being fast or medium fast, despite some of them conceding a few big overs, which proved to be the turning point. It became more significant as Marcus Stoinis kept leaking runs but was given three overs to bowl. He conceded 44 runs and picked just one wicket.

Questions were also raised on why Yuzvendra Chahal was unused in the match even though he featured in the PBKS starting lineup right from the beginning. 

MORE: Which teams can no longer qualify for IPL 2026 playoffs? Full updated list

Axar Patel did not bowl in the first innings in PBKS vs DC

Like Chahal, Axar Patel decided not to bowl in the first innings against PBKS as he instead utilised four pacers and a medium pace bowler in Madhav Tiwari.

The decision to avoid spin completely by both captains did not go down well with fans on either side. One of the reasons why the two captains decided against ignoring spin bowling was the nature of the HPCA Stadium pitch in Dharamsala and the presence of dew in an evening game at a high altitude venue.

The surface at HPCA traditionally favours the pace bowlers, which might be the reason why neither Patel nor Chahal was used in the game. 

MORE: Which batsmen have hit a Six on the first ball of an IPL innings?

Yuzvendra Chahal's record against left-arm batters in the four IPL seasons

One more reason that could prompt Iyer to avoid handing over the ball to Chahal could be the spinner's dismal record against southpaws in the last four IPL seasons. 

Since IPL 2023, Chahal has featured in 56 matches against left-arm batters, where he has conceded 816 runs, bowled 504 balls and picked up only 24 wickets.

DC had four left-arm batting options in their lineup tonight during the run chase and as a result Iyer might have felt that giving the ball to Chahal could have worsened PBKS' winning chance. 

To keep up to date with all the latest cricket news and share your opinion on the biggest topics visit our Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) pages.