Shreyas Iyer picked the perfect evening to score his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) ton as he powered Punjab Kings to a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Lucknow Super Giants.

“He’s a tremendous leader of many. He reads the game well,” said PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin after the game.

“There are two main things that I think I enjoy most about him. One is his care for his players, and the other is his appetite for the big moment. He’s seen that tonight. He wanted to be the one to make the difference, and that’s what you want from your leaders, whether it’s for the IPL or for your country,” added the 48-year-old.

Haddin emphasised that the team’s overall execution in high-pressure situations has been a major focus behind the scenes.

“I think as any coaching staff, you have to identify moments where you need to get better, and that’s what we’ve done. A lot of the games we lost went to the last over and a couple to the last ball where we were close, but we probably weren’t identifying those big moments,” he said.

While one captain delivered when it mattered, his counterpart, Rishabh Pant, had little to show for his efforts — either on Saturday (May 23, 2026) or across a grueling season.

LSG’s Global Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, felt his captaincy and batting are correlated. “From a captaincy point of view, he’s found it challenging, obviously, and the results reflect that. And you have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat,” he said.

“And certainly when it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it’s something that we’ll be giving some very serious consideration to what it looks like in the future,” he added.

Nine 200-plus totals conceded and six consecutive losses have left Punjab Kings (PBKS) facing a complex qualification scenario in the ongoing Indian Premier League season.

Gearing up for a do-or-die fixture against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium here on Saturday (May 23, 2026), PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting rued the team’s inability to deliver in crunch moments.

“Yes, we’ve lost six games in a row. But there have been very few games where we’ve been outplayed. We got into winning positions in most but haven’t been able to close them out,” he said.

A key factor in the team’s decline has been Arshdeep Singh’s dip in form compared to last season. However, Ponting defended his frontline pacer, noting that the shortest format has shifted drastically in favor of batters.

“In the last three games, Arshdeep has been getting back to his best,” Ponting said. “He didn’t pick up wickets in the first three games, but since then, he’s been pretty consistent.”

Ponting emphasised the high-scoring nature of the tournament to contextualise the bowling struggles. “We have conceded nine 200-plus totals, but we’ve made 200s eight times. The IPL has become a much higher-scoring tournament, and bowlers’ figures reflect that. I’ve been extremely happy with how Arshdeep has bowled.”

Come Saturday, PBKS will hope Arshdeep and the bowling attack can finally flip the script and deliver crucial, match-defining breakthroughs with the team’s playoffs qualification on the line.

On the other hand, an already eliminated LSG comes into the game with nothing to lose. It already played a part in Chennai Super Kings’ exit and will look to do the same against the visitor.

“We haven’t found the ideal winning formula this season so far. So, hopefully moving into tomorrow, we can do that, and we can put on one final good show for our fans at home,” said LSG assistant coach Lance Klusener.

The last time Punjab Kings (PBKS) faced the now-eliminated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 19 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, it was the team to beat, going unbeaten in its first six games.

Cut to the present, and the Shreyas Iyer-led side has suffered six consecutive losses. It now faces a must-win situation against LSG in Lucknow on Saturday (May 23, 2026).

Punjab’s season has been a tale of two contrasting departments. Its batting has been terrifying. With over 2,400 runs and a tournament-leading 156 sixes, PBKS possesses the firepower to overwhelm anyone with the bat.

At the top, Priyansh Arya strikes at an absurd rate of 212.86, while Prabhsimran Singh relentlessly attacks the PowerPlay. Meanwhile, the breakout brilliance of Cooper Connolly (473 runs) anchors the middle order, with Shreyas Iyer providing stability.

However, Punjab’s Achilles’ heel is a bowling attack that has been violently exposed.

Its pace battery is bleeding. Premier pacer Arshdeep Singh, despite taking 14 wickets, is conceding at an economy of 9.78. Even Lockie Ferguson and Marco Jansen, its rotating overseas options, have struggled for consistency in the death overs. Without a disciplined defensive spearhead, Punjab is failing to contain teams in high-pressure finishes.

Lucknow, playing purely for pride, remains highly volatile. Free from pressure, LSG’s opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis — coming off a blistering 109-run stand — will look to launch a fearless PowerPlay assault to shatter Punjab’s fragile defensive lines.

For Punjab, surviving this initial onslaught is only the first step in a much larger, agonising battle for self-preservation. A win on Saturday won’t guarantee qualification for the 2025 finalist.

Its catastrophic losing streak has stripped it of control over its destiny. Even if PBKS reaches 15 points, it needs Mumbai Indians to defeat the Rajasthan Royals. If that happens and Kolkata Knight Riders also finishes on 15 points, PBKS’s superior Net Run Rate will be its ultimate saving grace to sneak into the playoffs.

Moments after Delhi Capitals suffered a harrowing loss to Kolkata Knight Riders at home on May 8, skipper Axar Patel, resigned to his team not making the playoffs of IPL 2026, said the remaining three league games would be used to give opportunities to newer players. One of the beneficiaries of Axar’s view has been all-rounder Madhav Tiwari.

The 22-year-old from Madhya Pradesh — his family hails from Rewa district but he was born and brought up in Indore — has grabbed his opportunity in DC’s previous two matches.

The seamer picked up two wickets apiece against both Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals, and he also provided a glimpse of his ability with the willow during an unbeaten 14-ball 18 to seal a successful chase at the expense of Shreyas Iyer’s men.

Curiously, Madhav, whose IPL debut came against Mumbai Indians last year, is yet to feature for his State team at the senior level. He attracted the attention of Capitals when he turned out for Bhopal Leopards in the maiden Madhya Pradesh T20 League in 2024.

“What was spoken about Madhav when we picked him was that he was somebody who liked the pressure. He can bat, hit a long ball, and also bowl through all three phases,” DC head coach Hemang Badani told the media.

Madhav owes his cricketing skills to former India batter Amay Khurasiya, having trained at the 54-year-old’s academy in Indore since the age of 12. As Khurasiya recounts, Madhav, whose father has a transport and logistics business, was a reluctant bowler to begin with.

“Those kids who bat well generally don’t like bowling. He was one of those kids who loved batting,” Khurasiya told The Hindu. “He never enjoyed bowling, but he somehow took my advice. I have been particular about everyone developing both the fundamental skills in the game.”

Punjab Kings will be desperate for a turnaround against Mumbai Indian when the two teams meet at the HPCA Stadium here on Thursday.

After leading the standings for nearly four weeks, PBKS slumped to fourth place on the back of four straight defeats. Another slip-up will leave it in a scrap for the final Playoffs spot.

Fifties from Shreyas Iyer and Priyansh Arya against Delhi Capitals were reminiscent of the batting flourish that was the backbone of Punjab Kings’ early success. But its bowling lapses continue to cost it.

PBKS leaked 73 runs off four overs at the death against the Capitals, and has the worst economy rate in this phase this season (11.66).

The silver lining, though, has been Arshdeep Singh delivering again up front. He has three wickets at an economy of 8.15 in the last three games after a horrid run which got him just four wickets in eight games before that.

“Arshdeep is a terrific cricketer. And these big cricketers rise at the right moment. I think now is the right time and our coach Ricky Ponting always speaks of peaking at the right time, at the back end of the tournament,” Punjab Kings’ assistant bowling coach Trevor Gonsalves said.

Odds would favour Punjab to get its act together against a Mumbai Indians side that is already out of the reckoning for the Playoffs.

Its listless run was already a mood dampener this season, and MI has been handed another cruel blow with stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav unavailable for the game.

The best chance MI has of getting out of its rut is to take on the misfiring Punjab bowlers. Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma have nailed their role in setting the pace this year, adding 380 runs in six innings at a run rate of 11.76.

Punjab Kings, a team that looked like an unstoppable force about three weeks ago, is now struggling to get a ‘W’ next to its name.

In a matter of a few matches, PBKS, which made a rousing start to IPL 2026, has seen its cracks exposed. The Shreyas Iyer-led side masked its weaknesses by consistently outbatting opponents in the first half of the 19th edition, but since the time the rivals uncovered them, the Punjab outfit has been on a downward spiral.

The 2025 runner-up has plenty of holes to plug in the bowling and fielding departments. The bowlers have leaked runs at approximately 10.6 runs per over, the worst average economy rate in the league as of Tuesday. Kings have conceded 200 or more seven times already this season, besides the 195 they gave away against Mumbai Indians.

Wicket-taking is another area that requires immediate repair. Only left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh (13) has scalped 10 or more so far. Compared to the rest of the top-four teams — Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad — that have at least three bowlers with 10 or more scalps, PBKS has been well behind par.

Arshdeep, despite being the side’s top wicket-taker, is battling for consistency, while his pace partner Marco Jansen has hardly posed a threat. Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal is not trusted enough in spite of being the lone specialist spinner for most part of the campaign.

Poor fielding, especially dropped catches which have proved harmful, has also massively contributed to PBKS’ downfall. If Kings’ butter-fingered fielders had come up with an improved show against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals, the team may not find itself in the dire situation it is in now.

PBKS has to act quick and smart if it harbours hopes of advancing to the playoffs.

The IPL 2026 playoffs are just a little over two weeks away, but Punjab Kings appears to be making a fresh start. Given that top-four contender PBKS has hit a roadblock with three successive losses, it may not be a bad thing to do.

Kings fast-bowling coach James Hopes, who described the defeats as “missteps”, backed the Shreyas Iyer-captained side to fire in the ‘new tournament’ within the 19th edition. “It is a little bit of a hiccup,” Hopes said ahead of the fixture against Delhi Capitals.

“Any team which thinks that it can sail all the way without losing a game is kidding itself. For us, the tournament starts now. We are about three weeks of good cricket away from giving ourselves a chance to win the title,” added the Australian.

He, however, insisted that PBKS was not putting itself under pressure by thinking too far ahead. “We have to focus on what is next — the match against Capitals.”

Changes on the cards?

Hopes said that the return of Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai provided the think-tank the option of fielding two specialist spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Harpreet Brar.

Omarzai had flown back home and was unavailable for a few matches because of the demise of his mother. “With Omarzai back, we now have the opportunity to switch things up a little bit and still carry our fast-bowling [resources]. It is nice to have a full squad to pick from. As for Harpreet, he performs whenever he gets a game,” Hopes added.

Comfort has eluded Delhi Capitals at home in IPL’s 19th edition. The Axar Patel-led franchise has won just one out of five matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. On its visits to other venues, it has fared much better, notching up three wins in five games.

Contributing to the travails at home has been the large deviation in the nature of surfaces, hindering DC from cultivating a consistent style of play in its backyard.

The last three matches in the national capital make for pertinent examples. Having engaged in a run-fest against Punjab Kings on a featherbed where Shreyas Iyer’s side chased down a record 265 on April 25, 2026, Capitals’ duel against Royal Challengers Bengaluru just two days later swung to the other extreme.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood extracted swing and seam movement, reducing the host to eight for six inside four overs. DC folded up for 75 and lost by nine wickets.

On Tuesday (May 5, 2026) night, the strip in use was on the slower side. DC’s batters couldn’t adapt quickly enough, allowing Chennai Super Kings to register an eight-wicket victory.

DC head coach Hemang Badani conceded that the lack of homogeneity with the pitches at home wasn’t ideal. At the same time, the 49-year-old explicitly stated that the franchises didn’t have a role in the preparation of pitches.

“We don’t have any control over the surfaces. There is a clear mandate from the BCCI that it looks after the surfaces and it is the one which ensures that no local side benefits. You play on what is presented to you,” Badani told reporters.

“Yes, it’s been a bit of an up-and-down curve for us to understand what we are going to get in Delhi. I think the whole competition is quite neutral that way. But ideally, yes, you want to have some consistency.”

After a cherished stint as the runaway leader, Punjab Kings has seen its surge grind to a halt in recent outings. Despite PBKS showing signs of vulnerability, assistant coach Brad Haddin struck an upbeat tone ahead of the clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“Tournament cricket is all about playing your best right at the end and that’s what we’re striving for all the time. We’re striving for that perfect result and perfect game. When we find that, we’ll be a hard team to beat,” Haddin said.