Doesn’t have the same juice

Former India batter Ambati Rayudu has urged Punjab Kings (PBKS) pacer Arshdeep Singh to cut down on his short deliveries and focus more on fuller length deliveries if he gets another opportunity to bowl in IPL 2026. Rayudu claimed that the left-arm pacer’s bouncers are not troubling batters because he is not able to bend his back hard enough perhaps due to tiredness.

PBKS beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by seven wickets in match number 68 of IPL 2026 at Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday, May 23. Batting first, LSG were held to 196-6, a total PBKS chased down in 18 overs. Arshdeep, however, had another poor game, registering figures of 0-52 from three overs.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo Timeout, Rayudu opined that Arshdeep’s short ball ploy has backfired on the PBKS pacer as batters have found it rather east to slam him for boundaries. He commented:

“I just think his lengths [are the problem]. He’s not someone who should be bowling a lot of short deliveries. Even in the death, he should be bowling yorkers. And even with the new ball, whenever he has bowled full, except for the first ball which was driven through the covers, I don’t think his fuller balls went for so many runs as much as the short of length deliveries or the short ball.

“He should be mindful of that because his short ball, he doesn’t have a great bouncer at the moment, maybe because of his body being tired or he doesn’t have the same juice as what he did a few months back. But he definitely has to compensate. If he has to overcompensate, he needs to be full,” Rayudu added.

In 14 matches in IPL 2026 so far, Arshdeep has picked up 14 wickets at an average of 38.64 and an economy rate of 10.20.

“It’s just being tired” – Mark Boucher on PBKS pacer Arshdeep’s IPL 2026 woes

Former South African keeper-batter Mark Boucher backed Arshdeep and stated that there is nothing wrong with his skill or talent. He put down the PBKS left-arm pacer’s struggles to fatigue, pointing out that he played the IPL immediately after the T20 World Cup. Boucher commented:

“I think it’s just being tired [after the T20 World Cup] and this month being the IPL, and he had to play in this. That’s the reason why he’s like that. I don’t think it’s got anything to do with his skill or his talent. At some stage, it [the fatigue] has to catch up with the players. It’s just, it’s natural.

“So yes, I think that he is maybe a bit tired. But the one thing about him [is that] he knows that he’s going to be playing. It’s not like he’s an international [overseas player] where you’ve got quite a few different options and you can rest players here and there. He has to play. I think that he’s trying too hard with the new ball to take the ball both ways,” he concluded.

Overall, Arshdeep has played 96 IPL matches and has claimed 111 wickets at an average of 28.02 and an economy rate of 9.18.