Kamal Ghorui
File Pic: Punjab Kings’ Shashank Singh drops a catch against Sunrisers Hyderabad. (ANI Photo)
Despite Mumbai Indians’ position in the IPL 2026 points table, former Australian captain Aaron Finch warned that a team with ‘nothing to lose’ is often the most dangerous opponent. MI are set to take on Punjab Kings at Dharamsala on Thursday with the pressure on Shreyas Iyer’s team to snap their four-match losing streak. “Regardless of where Mumbai Indians are on the ladder, you know they’re coming hard at you,” Finch said on Jiohotstar. “They’ve got everything to gain by contributing to knocking out a team, and that’s what you play for when you get down to this part of the season, when you can’t qualify yourself.” The former Australian captain expressed his affinity for PBKS’s style of play but was very blunt about their poor fielding. PBKS has been guilty of dropping crucial catches at pivotal moments this season, which cost them important points in the last four matches. After going unbeaten in the first seven games , PBKS lost four on the trot .They have dropped the most chances this season with 19 catches missed. All-rounder Shashank Singh has dropped five catches on his own and accounts for 26.32 % of the dropped chances for the last year’s runner-up. Following Shashank’s drop against SRH, head coach Ricky Ponting said, “It has been a bit of a virus for us. We have put a lot of catches down this season.” Sairaj Bahutule, their spin bowling coach also showed concerns regarding their poor fielding with five catches dropped in the last two matches. Bahutule said , “ At the crucial time, we are dropping a catch,which unfortunately is breaking the momentum we were getting. But we will definitely look into it and see how we can just turn it around for ourselves.”A former PBKS player himself, Aaron Finch is still hopeful of Punjab’s playoffs chances and urged the players to take the chances which have cost them points in recent matches. “I hope Punjab do (qualify for playoffs), because I like the way they go about it. Just start catching well, please! You are costing yourself so many opportunities,” Finch added. Emphasising the unforgiving nature of the game, he noted, “Cricket’s hard. It is brutal at the best of times, and you can’t give the best players in the world chances over and over to beat you.”
