Trust in continuity: Ponting and Shreyas have backed the core of the crew that drove Punjab Kings to the summit clash last season.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: VIJAY SONEJI
No leader from the Punjab Kings dynasty has conquered the Indian Premier League. Which is why Shreyas Iyer, the current chief of the PBKS army, had rallied his troops with a war cry moments after losing the final battle in the previous IPL tussle.
“The job is still half done. We have to lift the trophy next year,” Shreyas had said after being beaten to the crown by Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar.
With the top prize again up for grabs in the upcoming iteration of the T20 league, Shreyas & Co. will enter the battleground with a single-minded focus on capturing PBKS’ maiden title.
Having retained the core of the crew that drove the team to the summit clash last season — 21 players were kept hold of while Pravin Dubey was bought back — the Punjab outfit has the resources to reign supreme.
Shreyas and head coach Ricky Ponting — the men who call the shots — are proponents of playing a fearless brand of cricket, so the batting wing is expected to stick to its slam-bang approach. The willow-wielders, however, must pull out all stops to avoid the ‘second season syndrome’ after having raised the bar to take IPL 2025 by storm.
The captain will once again have to act as the glue that holds the batting contingent together, considering the lack of international players it possesses — in a tournament where rivals take a yard when given an inch, top-level experience is like gold dust.
Shreyas may have to double up as an enforcer after the departure of Josh Inglis. The challenge in front of him could be bigger than it appears since the 31-year-old has not been involved in enough high-quality action in the months leading up to the league.
Same is the case with leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, the side’s biggest wicket-taking weapon and the most experienced member of the bowling band. Chahal, who is the IPL’s chart-topper with 221 scalps, has been on the sidelines for a majority of the last four months, but the team would hope that he gets his mojo back to weave his middle-overs magic.
Point of difference
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh could be another point of difference for the franchise that calls him ‘one of its own’. All-rounders Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen and Harpreet Brar provide not only strength in batting depth but also a happy bowling selection headache.
To last the distance, the PBKS forces should fire on all cylinders.
Published – March 17, 2026 06:59 pm IST
