Punjab Kings slipped to a fifth successive loss on Wednesday night, beaten by the already-eliminated Mumbai Indians in the thin mountain air of Dharamsala. The slide leaves PBKS clinging to fourth place and wondering how a campaign that began with such intent has become a scramble for form and confidence.
“This stage where we’re at, this is what IPL cricket’s about. You’ve got to be able to handle the big moments. You’ve got to be able to handle pressure,” assistant coach Brad Haddin reminded reporters afterwards. His post-match media chat returned to one phrase again and again: “We have to find a way.”
Key facts first
• Result: Mumbai Indians beat Punjab Kings by six wickets, handing PBKS their fifth defeat in a row.
• Table: PBKS remain fourth, protected for now by a cluster of early-season wins.
• Run-in: two league fixtures left – Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday afternoon in Dharamsala, then Lucknow Super Giants away next Saturday. Victory in both would almost certainly secure a play-off berth.
So what exactly has stalled the Kings? Haddin pointed straight at the team’s handling of crunch moments. “We just haven’t been able to handle the pressure in the last few defeats,” he admitted. “We haven’t played our best cricket when we need to, which has been disappointing – with the way we started the tournament and where we are now.”
Former New Zealand seamer Mitchell McClenaghan, part of our broadcast panel, watched the batting effort with furrowed brows. “PBKS look like they’ve lost their way with the bat,” he said, noting how fluent power-play starts have given way to jittery, low-percentage strokes.
Abhinav Mukund, analysing the same passage of play, felt the mis-calculation went deeper. In his view, holding back Yuzvendra Chahal’s final over – the leg-spinner had two for 17 after three – “cost them the game”. Mukund’s verdict wasn’t aimed at any one player but at a think-tank that suddenly appears short on clarity.
The numbers back up the unease. Punjab’s last win came on 25 April, when they mowed down Delhi Capitals’ 264 with seven balls unused – a chase powered by blistering starts from Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya and iced by Shreyas Iyer’s late-overs composure. Since then, the same top order has posted a combined two half-centuries in four innings; the strike rate remains decent, the shot selection less so. Cooper Connolly continues to chip in, yet his cameos have lacked a platform.
Haddin, not one for dressing-room theatrics, kept the message simple. “There’s no hiding that we’ve got to play better. We’ve got two games of cricket left… We have to win our remaining games now. And that’s as simple as it is.”
He added a note of optimism – or, at least, pragmatism. “It’s important to respond well. There’s good signs out of tonight’s match. The result’s hurting in the change room. We’ve got to take what we did well out of tonight… And now there’s no tomorrow.”
Pressure, of course, is relative. Mumbai batted with the freedom of a side already knocked out, Rohit Sharma and young Tilak Varma throwing punches without the fear of tournament maths. Punjab didn’t match that calm; a couple of mis-fields and an over-eager review hinted at nerves.
What can change in 48 hours? Tactically, PBKS may revisit the balance of their middle order. Shreyas Iyer has been shuffled between Nos. 4 and 5; stability might help him rediscover the finish he showed earlier in the competition. Chahal’s four overs could be front-loaded, rather than saved for a theoretical death scenario. And the seamers – Arshdeep Singh in particular – need to trust swing, not exclusively variations, at the start.
McClenaghan, never shy of an opinion, believes the answer lies less in whiteboards and more in mindset. “We have to find a way,” he echoed, smiling at Haddin’s mantra. “That normally starts with one batter deciding, ‘Right, I’m here until the 18th over.’ Everything else flows from there.”
It sounds obvious, because it is. Yet Twenty20 careers are littered with sides that forgot simplicity at the first sniff of panic. Punjab have two matches to remember where theirs went. Win both and the early-season sparkle suddenly looks like a plan executed; stumble again and the play-offs, once so certain, disappear up the Dhauladhar range.
Either way, we’ll know soon enough.
