Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra questioned Nehal Wadhera’s form after Punjab Kings suffered a four-wicket loss against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday. Wadhera was dismissed for a six-ball duck by Jason Holder as he was caught behind by Jos Buttler.

The left-hander has scored 65 runs in six innings of IPL 2026 at an average of 10.83 and a strike rate of 114.03. Chopra reckons PBKS’ middle order is over-reliant on the shoulders of Shreyas Iyer and they can struggle if their openers don’t give them a perfect start. 

While Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh scored 2 and 15 runs respectively, Iyer was dismissed after scoring 19 runs against GT.

“Punjab, there is a slight overdependence on Shreyas Iyer because Nehal Wadhera hasn’t scored runs. If both Priyansh and Prabhsimran get out, things go slightly awry, and both got out this time,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“One (Priyansh) got out in the first over, Cooper Connolly got out in the first over, and then Prabhsimran got out in the sixth over. Suddenly, the boat wobbled a little, but Suryansh Shedge played very well,” he added.

The renowned commentator praised the batting duo of Suryansh Shedge and Marcus Stoinis for scoring 57 and 40 runs respectively.

“He is a Mumbai boy. He has got very few chances in the IPL, but this was brilliant. He played an outstanding knock. He didn’t allow Shashank Singh to be missed. Marcus Stoinis’ batting form has been good this year. That is good news again,” he observed.

On the other hand, Chopra highlighted that PBKS bowling has failed to take more than six wickets in an innings in IPL 2026.

“163 runs were never going to be enough. Then you needed to pick up wickets with the new ball, and it is also true that Punjab haven’t taken more than six wickets in an innings even once in this entire tournament, and here also they picked up six wickets in total,” he said.

Punjab Kings will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at Hyderabad on Wednesday.