Expectations were sky-high from Punjab Kings heading into Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 after a complete roster revamp under coach Ricky Ponting and
new captain Shreyas Iyer, but the season ended in an underwhelming fashion.
Despite spending 22 days at the top of the table after a roaring start, a shocking six-game losing streak saw PBKS finish fifth and narrowly miss the playoffs. To bounce back strongly and finally cross the top-four hurdle in IPL 2027, the franchise must address their middle-season collapses and establish a more consistent blueprint.
Here are the three changes PBKS should make ahead of IPL 2027:
3) Strengthen the bowling line-up
The IPL 2025 finalists will be looking to bounce back after a disastrous season at the end of their 2026 IPL campaign. The first thing they will look to improve is strengthening their bowling line-up. There is a famous saying in cricket - Batters win you games, bowlers win you championships, and this is where PBKS suffered in IPL 2026. It was a bad outing for their bowlers as they conceded 200+ runs seven out of their 14 league games in this year’s IPL.
Not one bowler from PBKS line-up managed to find a spot in top-10 wicket takers of IPL 2026. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was their highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets to his name. If they want to come back to winning ways in next year’s edition, the Shreyas Iyer-led side will need to improve with the ball.
2) Revamp the middle-order
In PBKS batting department, it was mostly about their openers, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh. The duo had yet another memorable IPL campaign, with Arya scoring 364 runs, while Prabhsimran scored 510. Apart from them and Cooper Connolly, no one from their line-up stood out in the middle-order barring their captain Shreyas Iyer, who also scored 498 runs.
In most of the matches, it was Iyer who took on the responsibility with the bat to take his side over the line. But the other batters in PBKS line-up failed to step up. If they want to have a good and consistent season, they will have to improve immensely in the middle-overs.
1) Focus on finishing well with the bat
Not just the middle-order, the last overs of the innings also had become a problem for the Punjab-based franchise. The presence of Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis as designated finishers looked good on paper, but the case was different on the field. The Aussie all-rounder showed glimpses of form in a few matches, but was not consistent enough.
Shashank, on the other hand, had a horrid tournament, both as batter as well as fielder. The right-hander scored just 132 runs in 12 matches. The only saving grace was youngster Suryansh Shedge, who smashed 158 runs with a strike rate of 175.55 in seven matches. If they want to improve next year, PBKS has to step-up in the finishing department.
