Despite being the only unbeaten side in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 so far, the Punjab Kings have concerns around their bowling unit. The spotlight is firmly on star pacer Arshdeep Singh, who
has not only been expensive this season but has also struggled to make an impact in the Powerplay.
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch, now an ESPNcricinfo expert, believes Arshdeep’s lack of wickets early on in this IPL isn’t a major worry. However, Finch pointed out that the left-arm quick may have lost his ability to bring the inswinger back into right-handers.
“Yes, he hasn’t got the power play wickets. To me, that’s a good sign… if Arshdeep isn’t getting power play wickets and they’re still winning games comfortably…,” Finch said, addressing a select media during IPL 2026 rivalry week.
“He’s probably just lost his ability to bowl the inswinger to the right-handers as much as he used to… he was a big swinger of the ball both ways. I feel he’s probably going more to his outswinger, that’s a bit more of a defensive mindset.”
“But, it’s a good sign if they’re still winning games and your number one trump card still hasn’t fired… that would give me a huge amount of confidence as a captain,” he added.
Finch was highly impressed with how the Punjab Kings have carried forward their momentum from last season. Openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya have already stitched together two fifty-plus stands in three matches this season, with their aggressive starts continuing to drive PBKS’s batting success.
“When you pick a squad, and you pick players, you want them to play in the roles that they’re most comfortable playing. Yes, you have to change that around slightly now and then, but you don’t want too many top-order players having to bat in the middle order. So they’ve been really specific.
“Prabhsimran and Priyansh at the top of the order, they’ve been brilliant. Their ability to put teams under so much pressure right from the start is impressive. It’s the youngsters around the competition that are doing that more and more at the moment. Their ability to strike from ball one and almost really disrupt plans of opposition bowling attacks and captains,” he added.
[Catch IPL 2026’s Rivalry Week, April 12-18, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network]
