New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) The Punjab Kings’ off-season camp in New Chandigarh has been a stretch of open net sessions and practice games, though rain has made an appearance. Somewhere in the middle of all the games played by Mother Nature, Nehal Wadhera is working his way back from a season he is in no hurry to forget.
A year ago, Wadhera was one of the stories of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 — a young left-hander finishing games for Punjab Kings, as seen from his unbeaten 33 in the rain-hit group stage clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. That season saw him amass 369 runs in 16 games, though he was scratchy in the final, as RCB won the title in Ahmedabad.
But this year told a different story for Wadhera – the easy-on-the-eye timing and rhythm deserted him, as he made only 65 runs in eight games. Ask him about it now, months after he faced the last ball in IPL 2026, and he doesn’t reach for the usual language players use to soften a bad season.
“I mean, I just couldn’t click this year. So, I wouldn’t say that I definitely worked on my game before the IPL, and I’ve had certain expectations out of me. But, yes, it didn’t click – so it didn’t click. But I definitely learned a lot of things out of it, and I’m working on it now. So, every player goes through such patches in their career. This season was one of those times when I couldn’t do well,” Wadhera said in an exclusive conversation with IANS on Thursday.
There’s no attempt to make it sound better than it was. It didn’t click, and Wadhera has swiftly moved to having a better time with PBKS next year. What stands out is how little interest he has in complaining about the runs that didn’t come off his willow or the games he watched from the dugout.
“So, I’m not someone who complains that I couldn’t do something or anything like that. But, yes, I’m happy that I could learn something from it – like how to be consistent, take the game forward, and how to win games when the team is certainly not in a good position.
“I tried to grab as much as I could from this season – all those games where I couldn’t do well and also the games I didn’t play. I used to just make notes out of it, and be mindful that if I was playing what I would have done. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, it just doesn’t click. So, it was just one of those seasons. But, yes, I’m in a good headspace now,” he said.
That good headspace, Wadhera says, comes through the conversations he kept having with skipper Shreyas Iyer, now India’s T20I skipper, and head coach Ricky Ponting, even as PBKS’ season nosedived in the second half.
“Shreyas has been doing really well for the past two-three IPL seasons. He deserves to be where he is today. The chats we had were always really positive. I mean, I did not do well, and yes, I did not deserve to be playing all those games. I did get my chances and could not grab them. So, I don’t have any regrets that I did not play much.
“I did not complain, nothing of that sort. Rather, I was having some conversations with Shreyas and Ricky on how I could improve. What did they think I was lacking in or anything like that? But the same responses came from them, which were the things going on in my mind – that sometimes it just doesn’t click no matter how hard you try.
“In practice also, when I was batting, I was batting really well. Even Ricky was really happy with the way I was batting. But it was the same response from him -that it just doesn’t click sometimes. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m fine with it. I’m trying my best, putting my best foot forward and giving my 100 percent.’
“If it’s still not working, it’s fine. But still, if there’s something I can learn out of it, I did, and I was practising even harder in the nets. But it’s fine. I mean, no complaints, no regrets. I was giving my best, but it didn’t happen.”
At the ongoing off-season camp, where the overall mood has been positive, the focus of Wadhera and others like Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh has been on honing their strengths and the areas that need work, keeping in mind not just IPL 2027, but also the upcoming domestic season, where the left-hander will turn out for Himachal Pradesh.
The work of turning a lean season into a better one is happening in a fairly unglamorous fashion for Wadhera under the eyes of assistant bowling coach Trevor Gonsalves, who keeps the rest of the PBKS coaching staff informed about day-to-day proceedings.
“Whenever we are having our sessions, he is always standing there and recording us. He’s always showing us our videos to see where we can improve, and that conversation is always going on. He also tries to dig in and bring out conversations from us about where we feel that we can improve our game.
“Then, we end up being in such a place that we meet at a centre point that says, ‘Yes, this is where you need to improve. This is where your strengths are.’ These camps help us because we have such quality bowlers – all the cream of Punjab bowlers are collected, and they are also being tested for IPL.
“So, they also bring their best game forward while they are bowling to us, and it’s a really good challenge. We also sometimes play practice games, but it’s raining here, and we are not able to play that right now, but we are having some open net sessions. It’s fun as Trevor is just sharing his experiences with us and we’re really happy working with him.”
The bigger picture, for Wadhera, who was briefly in India ‘A’ set-up, is that none of this is optional extra effort on his part – it’s PBKS choosing not to leave players to fend for themselves between seasons. “Obviously, when we get a call for the camp, we as players get really excited. But it’s a really great initiative by Punjab Kings because they don’t want players to be left to practice on their own. They’re also keen to improve every player’s game.
“That’s why they constantly have their camps because they want to see where the player is improving his game, where he can fit into the eleven and can win games for the team. In the many camps they conduct, it’s not something that, if we feel that we need to work on this, we need certain two or three hours of batting – they’re always there, and we don’t have a time limit, so it’s really good.
“Also, we are practising with the best bowlers out there, and we are more than happy when we get those calls for the camp. We are really excited because we know that Punjab Kings are there and they are going to provide us with everything.
“Be it balls, more practice, gym, massages, physiotherapy, rehab, pool – everything is available here. So, Punjab Kings have been really good in this, and they take care of the players to the best level, and it just brings the best game out of the players then also, and we are really happy.”
Wadhera doesn’t offer any grand promise about whether IPL 2027 will mirror his breakout 2025 or his tough 2026 season. Instead, he is honest in talking about his difficult season, the support he got from PBKS, and renewing his belief in coming good whenever the next IPL comes. “I’ve practised well, and I know if I’m brought into this similar situation again, I’ll end up doing well,” he signed off.
–IANS
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