SRH vs PBKS: Shashank Singh, Punjab Kings’ Butter Fingers Take Centre Stage for Dropping Sitters vs Sunrisers Hyderabad During IPL 2026 Match

SRH vs PBKS: PBKS had a nightmare outing in the field in their IPL 2026 clash against SRH on Wednesday (May 6). The PBKS fielders dropped three simple catches and missed a stumping in a display of what head coach Ricky Ponting called a ‘virus’, and the SRH batters made the most of it and set a mammoth total of 235/4 in the first innings.

SRH vs PBKS: A Comedy of Errors in Hyderabad

The fielding problems started in the eighth over from Lockie Ferguson. The first culprit was Cooper Connolly who dropped a sitter at deep backward square leg to give a huge life to Ishan Kishan. From there it only got worse for the bowlers, especially Yuzvendra Chahal.

Shashank Singh, who has had a season to forget with his catching, dropped another sitter at deep backward square leg off Chahal. This was Shashank’s fifth dropped catch in recent games, following three spills against LSG and one against DC.

The frustration boiled over when Lockie Ferguson dropped yet another catch at deep backward square leg to gift Kishan his second life of the night. To add to the pain, wicketkeeper Prabhsimran Singh dropped a stumping chance of Kishan just four balls later. In the entire episode, Chahal was seen with a stoic look of disbelief as his hard work was not rewarded by his teammates.

SRH vs PBKS: “Like a Virus”- Ricky Ponting Reacts

Speaking to broadcasters during the innings, a disappointed yet candid Ricky Ponting did not hold back.  “It’s like a virus. “We’ve taken a lot of catches so far this season,” Ponting said. “The ball seemed to be ‘following’ Shashank Singh everywhere.

Ponting said the team had been working hard on catching drills in the past week to help Shashank who had returned to the side after a week-and-a-half break after straining his left hamstring. The errors remained, even if he returned in physical shape and trained hard under the lights of the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

SRH vs PBKS: No Excuses for Poor Fielding

Some might say the venue’s “ring of lights” was a distraction but Ponting was quick to dismiss any excuses. The team had trained at the stadium last night to get used to the conditions, he said.

“I’m not going to be making excuses for anyone putting down a catch,” the coach stated firmly. He did admit Chahal had once lost a ball in the lights in Mumbai but insisted this time Shashank seemed to have the ball covered all the time. These ‘butter fingers’ proved costly for a team in search of momentum as SRH rode their luck to a dominant first innings score.