PBKS in IPL 2026: A season in the clouds and six-feet under

Winning is a habit, but so is losing. For long, the world of sports has adopted the adage for lazy deconstructions. Punjab Kings, in IPL 2026, demonstrated that there are reasons to stick with it. Unbeaten in the first half of the season, the Shreyas Iyer led side had promised to put up one of the most dominant displays ever witnessed in a season to make up for what was agonisingly missed last year - the team's maiden IPL trophy. And out of nowhere, dramatically, as the lead bowler started striking and Lockie Ferguson returned to the squad, the team almost forgot the process of winning.

Batters would mount runs, but bowlers found no way to stop the leaks. More than once, simple catches were dropped. They were not being outplayed, but over and over again, they turned up second best.

From a loss against Rajasthan Royals which 'teaches you a lot' to reaching a point where even a victory in the final game couldn't guarantee them a spot in the playoffs, the season's slide often lacked an explanation. The same core with greater experience, and the same formula that the team had stuck to for two successive seasons with plenty of success, had suddenly started to prove ineffective. As a result, the campaign fizzled out.

Shreyas Iyer

498 runs at 168.81 - the PBKS captain carried on from the good work done by PBKS's top-order, or ensured the innings didn't fall apart in the absence of a strong start. In almost every second outing, he went past the 50-run mark, and delivered with a century in the must-win game against LSG. Ever reliable on the field, he was the chief architect of one of the best catches of the tournament. While his bowling unit lacked the bite, some of his bowling changes were inspired, none more than the clever utilisation of Shashank Singh at different times during the season.

PBKS had the worst performing bowling unit this season - with the worst average (42.54), strike rate (24.5) and economy rate (10.40). Barring Azmatullah Omarzai and Shashank Singh, none of their seam bowling options conceded at less than 10 an over.

: Picked at a price of INR 3 Crore, Cooper Connolly offered his money's worth. The Australian southpaw adapted seamlessly to the conditions and the pitches in the tournament, kickstarting his campaign with a match-winning 44-ball 72*. He remained consistent, and mostly well-paced throughout the season, getting out early only once. In only his maiden season, he finished the campaign with 491 runs at a strike rate of 163.12.

: None really. The only other player who got a chance to play was Ben Dwarshuis. The pacer didn't have an impressive outing against DC (the only game he played), but any judgement over a one-off performance would be unfair.

Six days after hammering Lucknow Super Giants for 254 for 7, PBKS made a mockery of Delhi Capitals' score of 264 for 2. Their bowlers did have a tough day, but Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya's opening stand of 126 in only 41 balls ensured they weren't feeling too bad for too long. Kings eventually blazed their way to the target with seven balls to spare, and broke their own record for the highest total chased down in IPL.

6

Punjab Kings may have lost six out of 14 games, but they were never really outplayed. At worst, they lost two games - against SRH and RCB respectively - by reasonable margins. If not for the point lost to rain against KKR when they were on a victory run (and KKR couldn't find a win), Punjab Kings would have qualified to the playoffs, and opened themselves to more optimistic possibilities.