Punjab Kings fast bowling coach James Hopes admitted the team is now staring at elimination after yet another disappointing defeat, saying the side has struggled to build momentum at crucial stages throughout the tournament. PBKS suffered their sixth consecutive loss, dealing a major blow to their playoff hopes in the Indian Premier League 2026 season.
Most recently, PBKS went down to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 23 runs at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, leaving them in a difficult position on the points
table. Hopes said the bowling unit kept chasing the game despite managing to control certain phases during the powerplay.
"We are staring it in the face now. There's still hope, but we need to turn it around. We need to tidy up some areas. I felt like every time we got momentum back, they'd have one big over and get back on top. Then in the chase, we got going a little bit, but it petered out. We lost too many wickets early," said Hopes as quoted by Cricbuzz.
"At the moment, it's going to be about instilling that belief back into them. And we've been trying. It's not through lack of training. It's not through lack of planning. The boys are training well. The boys are planning well. It's just that we get into moments where we think, 'Okay, we'll get the game back our way now,' and it's just not happening," he added.
Hopes defended the Punjab Kings bowling attack, particularly Arshdeep Singh, insisting that the team’s poor results have been influenced more by missed opportunities in the field than by defensive bowling. The bowling coach also backed Punjab’s top order despite another disappointing performance in a challenging run chase. Although PBKS remain mathematically in contention for a playoff spot in the IPL, they now need other results to go in their favour ahead of their final league-stage match.
"Arshdeep has bowled very well in the back half of the tournament. There've been plays and misses, catches dropping short of fielders and missed opportunities. If you add four dropped catches off his bowling, he's probably sitting on a 17 or 18-wicket season. He fronts up every training session and every game ready to go. He's a warrior," said Hopes.
"I don't think a top order performs every game. Most top orders in this tournament play a high-risk game and sometimes it doesn't come off. We haven't taken our opportunities in the last two weeks and now we're where we are. There's no hiding behind it," he said. "We need to regroup, hope results go our way over the next few days and make sure we're playing for something next Saturday," he added.
