Punjab Kings youngster Nehal Wadhera revealed that he wasn’t informed about playing the match against Lucknow Super Giants until the team arrived at the ground. He ended up smashing an unbeaten 43 runs off 25 balls as PBKS won by eight wickets.
Nehal Wadhera, who was bought by Punjab Kings for INR 4.2 crore in the IPL 2025 mega-auction, didn’t feature in the opening game against Gujarat Titans. He wasn’t given any clarity about playing against Lucknow Super Giants either. Nevertheless, he ended up being their Impact Sub for the match Reflecting upon that, the cricketer mentioned that he carried only one kit on the matchday and it was just before the game when the team management informed him about his selection.
Punjab had a great day with the ball restricting Lucknow to 171 runs in the first innings and in the second innings, Prabhsimran Singh and captain Shreyas Iyer stole the show with their pinch-hitting. Meanwhile, after Prabhsimran departed scoring 69 runs off 34 deliveries, Wadhera came out and made an unbeaten 43 runs off 25 deliveries and got the job done.
After the game, the 24-year-old reflected on his selection, partnership with the captain and his objective in the IPL 2025.
“I didn’t feel much nerves but I didn’t know that I would be playing today so I had brought only one kit with me, later I got to know that I’m playing today. When I went into bat, I wanted to play my shots and take my chances. The way Shreyas has been captaining the side it has been great, the way he told me to play my natural game and go with the flow of the game, it’s great. The experience which I gained in these last two years, I wanted to showcase my experience here with Punjab. That’s how I have been preparing,” Wadhera said after the game.
Meanwhile, with two consecutive wins, Punjab Kings are currently second on the IPL points table. Royal Challengers Bengaluru are on the top. PBKS meanwhile will host Rajasthan Royals in their next match on April 5.
