Four defeats in a row have left Punjab Kings struggling to regain momentum after dominating the first half of IPL 2026. Despite the slump, they are still in the race for a playoffs spot, although Monday’s loss to Delhi Capitals made their path more complicated.
Spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule admitted the team was disappointed but said there was no point in overthinking the setback. Captain Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, felt the team had been “short on planning.”
Punjab appeared to have one hand on the game in Dharamsala when David Miller was dismissed in the 17th over of Delhi’s chase of 211. At that stage, DC needed 36 runs from 18 balls, but late cameos from Ashutosh Sharma, Madhav Tiwari and Auqib Nabi carried them to a dramatic three-wicket win.
Bahutule said Punjab failed to execute properly in the final overs.
“I’ve said this before also, there are going to be lots of ups and downs. There are going to be times where you’ve almost won the game and you lose, like today. We almost had the game with us, but we didn’t execute the skills needed in the last five overs,” Bahutule said at the post-match press conference.
“So all we need to do is just keep this aside and move ahead and play the next three games to the best of our ability”.
He also felt Punjab could have added another 15-20 runs at the death after the strong platform they had built, which might have pushed the total beyond 240.
Iyer, however, had a different assessment of the pitch conditions. According to him, the total of 210 was already above par because of the movement and uneven bounce on offer for the seamers.
Bahutule further pointed to dropped catches as another major factor in the defeat. “If we had caught two catches, I don’t think they would have maybe reached the target, but it would have been very difficult for them and maybe won the game by 20 runs,” he noted.
For the first time in IPL history, neither side used a spinner during the match, with both teams relying entirely on pace. Iyer revealed that he did consider bringing Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack at one stage.
“There was absolutely a thought in my mind,” Iyer said, “but the way the ball was seaming and the way it was helping seamers, I think if we would have executed our line and length precisely, we could have been able to extract wickets, but unfortunately again, we didn’t.”
Bahutule agreed with the decision to persist with the quicks. “Definitely there was a thought during the time-out, but I think the ball was seaming and the conditions were suitable for the fast bowlers,” Bahutule said.
“So I think the decision was very spontaneous to continue with the fast bowlers and see how we can get those wickets, which we did early on”.
Iyer also defended the bowlers’ approach of hitting hard lengths instead of repeatedly attempting yorkers at the death.
“I always say that hard length, short of hard length is the best ball, especially when a new batsman is coming in. It’s not easy to hit because if you keep repeating those balls, at least one, there’s one ball, there’s a chance of, you know, mis-hitting and you can get a wicket. We’ve been short on planning,” he said.
Bahutule also explained the decision to leave out Xavier Bartlett and hand Ben Dwarshuis his first game of the season. With Lockie Ferguson unavailable, Punjab opted for another left-arm seamer on a pitch offering assistance to fast bowlers.
“With Lockie (Ferguson) not available for this game, we thought of giving Ben that opportunity. He’s also been bowling really well in the nets, performing well besides the games, so I think it was very important that we give that opportunity to a left-arm seamer who was doing well in the nets and constantly working with the group, and I think he did reasonably. Yes, it’s not like Bartlett hasn’t been doing well for us, but I think we thought of the combination which would suit us on this particular pitch,” Nahutule said.
Punjab Kings now face Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Lucknow Super Giants in their final three league games as they continue their push for a Playoffs berth.