Dharamshala, May 8 (IANS): Punjab Kings are all set to go head-to-head against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala on Thursday. With the playoff stage of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League approaching quickly, all eyes are on the points table.
All the teams still have a chance to earn the coveted top-four spot, but Punjab Kings assistant coach Brad Haddin insisted that his side is taking the competition game-by-game.
Punjab went down by 28 runs to Chennai Super Kings at the same venue last week and will hope to return to winning ways on Thursday to remain in the hunt for the playoffs.
"The discussion over the last couple of days is about the match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. If you look back to the last match we played, we got ourselves in a position to win the game. We had to chase 160-odd runs and we could not chase it down. So yeah, our main focus has been making sure we work on what we needed to from that game and concentrate on that. There's no point worrying about the next two after this unless we play well in this one."
Haddin expressed disappointment over the result in the previous game. "We thought we just started to play some good cricket. Our batters started to find some good form after Kolkata and Chennai. And it was disappointing. We thought we were just starting to get some momentum back in the tournament. To lose the way we did was disappointing," he said.
But the former Australian international praised the youngsters Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma for their invaluable contribution this season. The two youngsters have batted beautifully in the lower-middle order and have already earned their sides some key victories this season.
"I think Shashank and Ashutosh have been outstanding. They are two young players that have grown during the IPL. The most pleasing thing about those players is they've got runs under pressure. You see guys come in and then score runs. But these two have come in and scored runs in tough situations," Haddin said.
"So, one technically you have got to be very good and their game sense and resilience under pressure has been good. For two guys that haven't tasted much of IPL and the hype of it. So yeah, they have been two positive stories from the season," he further added.
Sam Curran has been leading the side over the past few games with skipper Shikhar Dhawan absent due to an injury. Haddin admitted Dhawan's injury has been a setback for Punjab this season, but expressed hope the left-handed batsman will be fit to play for the final two games.
"In any team that you are a part of, it's disappointing to leave your most senior players for extended periods. I do not have to sit here and tell you about Shikhar's record in IPL. He's the most successful opener in this tournament," Haddin said.
"We go to Delhi after this game for a couple of days before we go to our next game in Guwahati. Shikhar will be assessed and then hopefully we can have some more positive news on him for the last couple of games. We will assess him when we get to Delhi. Fingers crossed," he signed off.