Former PBKS all-rounder Irfan Pathan claimed that Punjab Kings owners interfered in team management decisions, which was one of the main reasons for them not achieving the IPL title.
Punjab Kings played their first IPL tournament in 2008, the inaugural season of the competition. The Kings have been playing in the franchise league for over 18 seasons, and they have not managed to win a single edition before.
Punjab Kings reached two finals in IPL history. They played their first final in 2014 under Australian captain George Bailey and then played their second final in 2025 under captain Shreyas Iyer.
“What the coaches feed to those who are not from a cricket background remains a big problem.” -Irfan Pathan
Former PBKS all-rounder Irfan Pathan revealed that Punjab Kings have been making a lot of changes in the IPL all these years, and also shed light on the swaps in the initial seasons.
“Specifically talking about Punjab Kings, when I played for them 3 years ago between 2008 and 2010, one thing could be clearly seen: there was a bottleneck in decision making. Whether you are talking about the coach, the staff or the captain.
Pathan recalled, “Yuvi was the captain the first year; we reached the semi-finals in the inaugural season, but then the IPL moved to South Africa and we could not perform well there. The leadership should have remained the same, but it was changed in 2010.”
He then further said that the owners of Punjab Kings influenced the team selection and interfered in the functioning of the management, as a result of which PBKS could not win a single title in the IPL.
“What the coaches talk about with the owners who don’t come from a cricket background and what they feed them plays a big role. It has been with Punjab; initially the Punjab owners also felt the same way,” the PBKS all-rounder claimed.
“Although they seem to be the best owners in one-on-one situations, however, it seems there was a lack of dedication during the early years. If the owners were not on the same page with regard to team selection or more, their decision making was impacted.
“However, the situation has changed now as they have tried to give more stability to their players in recent times,” he said.
Irfan Pathan cited the real reason behind the failure of PBKS as “lack of stable leadership.”
The former all-rounder reflected on how the PBKS team has lacked stable leadership in the IPL. He revealed that this problem has persisted in the PBKS camp for so many years.
“But if you change 12 captains in 18 years, it means there should be a stable leadership which was not seen. And when there is no stability, players will be insecure, and in such a tough league, where there is huge pressure on players, they fail to perform.”
“This problem has been with Punjab for the last few years,” Pathan said.
Making unclear decisions?
12 captains were changed.
Are the players under pressure? @irfanpathan Analyzes the major deficiencies @PunjabKingsIPL Tata back in IPL history! #TATAIPL 2026 #RCBvSRH | Sat, March 28, 5:30 pm pic.twitter.com/4OM46g0rxz– Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) 21 March 2026
Will Shreyas Iyer finally lead them to an IPL title in 2026?
Shreyas Iyer, the second highest paid cricketer in the history of IPL, was bought for a huge price in 2025. Iyer captained the Punjab Kings in their second final in the history of the competition. Ricky Ponting was appointed head coach of the tournament.
Shreyas Iyer won the title with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024 and before that he had led Delhi Capitals to the IPL final. After finishing 2025 as runners-up, they will be looking to bounce back in 2026 and repeat their high performances to lift PBKS to its maiden IPL trophy.
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