Punjab Kings have spent most of this IPL season hogging the highlights reel with the bat – a couple of 200-plus chases and, against Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday, a franchise-record total after choosing to bat first for the first time. Yet the story lurking beneath those runs is an attack that, while rarely spectacular on the scorecard, keeps nudging opponents just far enough off course.
So far PBKS have rolled Gujarat Titans for 162, restricted Chennai Super Kings to 209 for 5, Sunrisers Hyderabad to 219 for 6 and Mumbai Indians to 195 for 6. None of those targets feels tiny in a tournament where 180 has become par, but they have been enough.
“You have to look at what they have in their team. It’s not a team that is lacking offensive skill sets. [And] their skill sets can go defensive,” Faf du Plessis said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show after the 54-run win over LSG. “But you look at the names in that bowling attack, it’s all frontline attacking bowlers – Marco Jansen, [Xavier] Bartlett, Arshdeep [Singh]. It is all genuine wicket-takers with the new ball there, with the skill set of swinging the ball; tall bowlers getting bounce; Arshdeep is a good yorker bowler with the new ball. So it’s not by chance that they are one of the better bowling units.”
The raw wicket numbers suggest otherwise. PBKS sit eighth for total wickets and ninth for strike rate. What elevates them is economy: 9.64 so far, dropping to 9.75 in their five completed victories. In the same matches their opponents have leaked 11.22. The plan has been obvious – disappear just a little less than everyone else.
“They can switch to defensive, but also, as a batter, if you are fronting up against them, you feel like they can get you out at any stage as well,” du Plessis added. “Guys like [Vijaykumar] Vyshak can then come in and do their thing. [Yuzvendra] Chahal is an attacking spinner. Yes, he can be defensive, but his method is he gets wickets.
“When we are talking about putting bowling attacks together, you want variety. As a captain, you’ve got all the different guns at your disposal that you can just pull the trigger at different stages and that’s what gives them very, very great variety in their bowling attack.”
That variety is reflected in the numbers. Thirteen bowlers have seven or more wickets in IPL 2026; none wear PBKS red. Jansen has gone at 9.31, Arshdeep at 9.44, Chahal at 9.58. Vyshak is touch higher at 10.05, yet he usually bowls the scrappiest overs – the seventh, the eleventh, the nineteenth – when hitters are already eyeing the second tier. Bartlett’s heavy seamers have averaged under eight an over in the powerplay, buying the others room later on.
Ambati Rayudu, watching the same matches from the commentary pod, reckons the understated approach is working because the attack refuses to chase magic balls. His on-air summary was simple: stick to plan A unless the pitch shouts for plan B, and use plan C only if the scoreboard turns ugly. It has been rare that PBKS have needed to open that third envelope.
The unit is also left-arm heavy at the top, something many line-ups struggle to counter. Jansen’s bounce followed by Arshdeep’s skiddy angle forces right-handers to restart their rhythm almost immediately. Chahal’s control in the middle, with Bartlett or Vyshak alternating at the other end, keeps the squeeze on without obvious risk.
Of course, the calendar tightens now. Back-to-back fixtures on slow surfaces could expose that lack of a banker mystery spinner. Injuries – Jansen’s ankle has acted up before – might test the depth chart. And the margin between 9.6 and 11 an over can vanish the moment the dew arrives early.
For the moment, though, the Kings are content letting the batsmen grab the headlines while the bowlers do the bookkeeping in the background. It may not look glamorous, but it wins cricket matches, and that is still how points are handed out.
