IPL 2021 | Credit goes to Kartik Tyagi for the way he bowled, asserts Anil Kumble

"It's sort of becoming a pattern for us especially when we get to Dubai, it seems," Kumble said. "The approach was clear, we needed to finish it in 19 overs. That was the approach, to not let it go till the end. But unfortunately, when you leave it to the last couple of balls, it becomes a lottery. Credit to Tyagi for the way he bowled."     

With this loss, Punjab is on the seventh position in the points table. From now on, every game is a do-or-die for them as they have lost six games out of nine. The loss followed a somewhat similar pattern to their game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi last year. Back then, they lost despite needing just 22 off 18 balls with nine wickets in hand. On that occasion, they turned a cruise into complete wreckage by throwing their bats around and then being tested by Sunil Narine. 

"It was pretty clear he was going to bowl wide outside off, and somehow our batters didn't take the right options," he said. "We need to discuss this and sort it out. We have five more games to go, we don't want to get bogged down by this defeat but it's certainly a bitter pill to swallow," stated Kumble.

"With the bat also, we showed it till the 17th over. We were cruising but we were pulled back in the 18th and 19th overs after Markram's six. As batters, they know what their scoring shots are. All it needed was a bit of hitting. Even if someone got out first ball, the next batter had five balls to get the runs. When it goes to the last couple of balls, it becomes hard. The messaging was clear. We had to finish it in 19 overs, unfortunately that didn't happen today," the 50-year-old concluded.