Kamal Ghorui
Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer admitted that his side fell short in execution with the ball after suffering their first defeat of IPL 2026, despite putting up a commanding total against Rajasthan Royals. Reflecting on the loss, Iyer felt the total on the board was more than competitive on a tricky surface. “I thought 224 on the board was a brilliant score. Kudos to the batsmen, the way they came up and they went against the bowlers. I think it was an exceptional performance, especially on this wicket, which was a bit tacky and slow,” he said. However, the skipper pointed to lapses in execution with the ball as the turning point. “And I think we fell a bit short in our bowling, in terms of execution. We had planned to bowl a lot of slower ones, pace off, yorkers. I think we fell a bit short over there. And also, they had tremendous partnership in the middle, especially by Ferreira and Shubham Dubey coming in and scoring those crucial runs at the end.” Punjab Kings were cruising at one stage, but a stunning late assault from Donovan Ferreira (52* off 26) and Shubham Dubey (31* off 12) turned the game on its head, sealing the chase with four balls to spare. Iyer also acknowledged the growing challenge for bowlers in the modern T20 game. “See, this is the format where I feel that a lot of players have changed their game and when they come in, they go bang from ball one. So it’s an arduous task for bowlers to come with a certain plan. But at the end of the day, I feel it’s all about execution. If you have a certain plan set, when you execute it well, you come out triumphs. And today it just wasn’t our day.” Despite the setback, Iyer remained calm about the road ahead. “I think it’s important that we stick to the things that we’ve been doing, the routines and the processes that we’ve been following throughout. We had a match, we had to travel and then come and play another game. So I think the body was also a bit fatigued, but that can’t be the reason over here. But we’ve got couple of days to refresh, go back to the drawing board and come back strong.” Calling it a learning experience, the PBKS captain stressed the importance of staying positive. “Well, absolutely. I feel that this is our first loss of the season, so it definitely teaches you a lot. And also, we’ve played a lot of games where we have chased 200-plus, we have defended 200-plus. So this is just one of those games where things didn’t go our way and we just have to push it aside. And I feel that in retrospect, many things could have happened, but I just want to stay positive going ahead and be optimistic in our approach.” He also reserved special praise for Harpreet Brar, who impressed on a difficult pitch. “Yes, absolutely. I felt that it was difficult to score off the spinners because it was holding a bit and it was offering them a little bit of turn as well. Not that much, but a little bit. But Harpreet Brar, yes, coming in his first game, showing that kind of personality where he just gives 25 runs off four balls [overs] and turning out to be the best bowler in the team. I think hats off to him, the way he kept his approach and his attitude throughout this game.” With Punjab Kings now set to play in Dharamsala, Iyer kept his message simple when asked about the new venue: “Nothing, just win,” he said with a smile.
