Why are Nehal Wadhera & Xavier Bartlett not playing tonight's SRH vs PBKS clash of IPL 2026?
Nehal Wadhera and Xavier Bartlett were part of PBKS’ previous game.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are clashing with Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League 2026 on Wednesday, May 6. The encounter is taking place at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Punjab Kings are aiming to retain their top spot in the IPL 2026 points table as SRH can leapfrog them with a victory in tonight’s clash. While Shreyas Iyer & Co. are the table-toppers with 13 points, SRH are placed in third place with 12 points.
In the 49th match of IPL 2026, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field first. At the toss, he informed that they have made two changes to their playing XI. Batter Nehal Wadhera and pacer Xavier Bartlett were not part of the clash.
Why are Nehal Wadhera & Xavier Bartlett not part of SRH vs PBKS?
Notably, Wadhera and Bartlett have been dropped for the clash. PBKS have replaced them with Shashank Singh and Lockie Ferguson in the playing XI. Shashank has recovered from his hamstring injury and returns to the field after missing two previous games.
Speaking at the toss, Shreyas Iyer said, “We’re going to bowl first. There hasn’t been a single piece of grass since the time I’ve seen it. So based on that, I chose bowling. And also, if you see, the last match we played against SRH over here was on this wicket and they chased 245. So that also being one reason I chose to bowl. Shashank comes in and Lockie comes in”.
In the previous game against GT, Bartlett remained wicketless in his four overs. The right-arm pacer has clinched just 5 wickets in 8 games at an average of 11.29. On the other hand, Wadhera has flopped with the bat this season, scoring just 65 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 114.03.
Hence, due to their poor performance so far, PBKS have dropped both of them from the playing XI in tonight’s clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Punjab Kings playing XI vs SRH: Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (C), Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Why are Nehal Wadhera and Xavier Bartlett not part of the SRH vs PBKS clash?
Both of them have been dropped from the encounter.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.