Poor pace returns, catch drops: What has gone wrong for PBKS in mid-season slump?

PBKS, who started off as a pack of invincibles with a seven-match unbeaten streak, including six wins and a result, have all of a sudden ran into trouble with a hat-trick of losses, which have exposed some holes in their bowling, fielding and batting alike. DC, who are at the verge of elimination with seven losses in 11 matches, could be an easy target to carry out some repair and recovery before the all-important clash with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on May 17.

Here are some issues that PBKS has faced as off late:

-Worst performing pace unit: It would be an understatement to say that the PBKS pace unit led by Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen is a leaking faucet. Rather, a pipeline of runs bursts all over the park when PBKS pacers have a ball in their hands. In their nine completed matches, PBKS have conceded 200 runs or more six times and above 220 thrice, as per ESPNCricinfo.

With a bowling average of 46.47 among pacers, they are only behind their opponents (51.47) as the worst pace unit in terms of bowling average. Also, with just 33 wickets in the hands of seven pace bowlers, their pacers have the joint-third fewest wickets for a franchise this season, behind DC (23 wickets) and Mumbai Indians (32 wickets) and level with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who have a much better bowling average of 28.57.

Their economy rate of 10.68 is also the worst among all franchises this season.

Among pacers having bowled 30 overs or more, Arshdeep (11 wickets at an economy rate of 10.42) and Jansen (six wickets at an economy rate of 9.9) are second and fifth worst, respectively, in terms of economy rate, with DC's T Natrajan (five wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 11.18) being the worst one.

Jansen's bowling average of 58.33 is second-worst to Natrajan's 71.2 among bowlers in the same category.

Arshdeep, the head honcho of PBKS' pace unit, the only bowler in the line-up to complete a century of wickets for the Kings', is having his worst season so far as a regular player.

-The top four peaked too early?: PBKS has a formidable top four of Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Cooper Connolly and skipper Shreyas Iyer. On their given day, one of these players can win a match single-handedly for their side.

During the first six matches, including the rainout fixture against KKR, PBKS' top-four was the best in the line-up, with 853 runs in 20 innings combined at an average of 50.17 and a strike rate of 186.24, including nine fifties. A whopping 71 fours and 59 sixes were smashed in 458 balls, making it 3.52 balls per four or six.

In their next four matches, PBKS has witnessed a decline in their numbers, sliding down to fifth spot with 507 runs in 16 innings at an average of 36.21 (a decline by 14 runs almost) and a strike rate of 172.44, with the decline due to loss of wickets. 42 fours and 32 sixes have been smashed in 294 balls, with the balls per four or six ratio falling to 3.97.

Since past four matches, Prabhsimran's scores have been: 3, 15, 59 and 76, still a solid run of scores. For Priyansh, it has been: 1, 2, 29 and 43. While Connolly smashed his maiden professional cricket century against Sunrisers Hyderabad with a sensational 107*, his past three scores were: 0, 30 and 17. The 'Sarpanch Sahab' Shreyas Iyer has not been able to flex his muscles either, with his past scores being 5, 19, a barely above run-a-ball 30 and 71*.

PBKS can take solace in the fact that it is not too bad for their top-order, and the decline has not been so steep. Perhaps it is just a product of their high-risk style.

-Fielding troubles: PBKS have been a shoddy fielding side this season, with their catching efficiency being the lowest among all teams at 71.43 per cent. 16 catches, some of them absolute sitters, have been spilt out, with Shashank Singh being a serial offender with five drops. With each catch drop, head coach Ricky Ponting's frowning, angry face gets even worse, and the PBKS would want it to get any worse.

-Under-utilisation of spin: PBKS has some world-class spin resources at their disposal, with IPL's leading wicket-taker Yuzi Chahal, local boy Harpreet Brar. Despite their home base at Mullanpur offering some spin support as suggested by the presence of four spinners in the top 10 T20 wicket-takers at the venue, they have barely bowled spin at all.

Across 10 matches, PBKS has bowled just 34 overs of spin, the least by any side, and they have fetched eight wickets at an average of 38.87 and an economy rate of 9.14.

Chahal and Brar have featured as spinners, with Brar being given just one match. Chahal, despite all his skill set and experience, has not really clicked, taking eight wickets at an average of over 35 and an economy rate of 9.53 and has not completed his quota of overs four times.

Could more spin be helpful for PBKS?

Squads: Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlett, Mitchell Owen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ben Dwarshuis, Praveen Dubey, Yash Thakur, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad Delhi Capitals Squad: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Karun Nair, T Natarajan, Abishek Porel, David Miller, Dushmantha Chameera, Kyle Jamieson, Rehan Ahmed, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Auqib Nabi Dar, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari. (ANI)