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Punjab Kings (PBKS) looked unstoppable at the start of IPL 2026, but then, they suffered their biggest defeat of the season, leaving fans and experts shocked and disappointed. Recently, PBKS opening batsman Prabhsimran Singh reflected on what went wrong with the franchise.
Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings team got off to a great start to the IPL 2026 campaign, which also gave him a taste of the India captaincy. PBKS won six matches and built strong momentum in the first half of the season. But they suddenly lost their rhythm and suffered six consecutive defeats.
Punjab Kings’ dream start turns into nightmare in IPL 2026
It was a dramatic collapse for PBKS, who looked to be serious title contenders in the first leg of the tournament. Many believe that their poor game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on April 12 played a role in their failure to qualify for the IPL 2026 playoffs.
Even before the game was stopped due to rain, KKR was under pressure at 25 runs for 2 wickets in 3.4 overs. Xavier Bartlett dismissed Finn Allen and Cameron Green cheaply and Punjab Kings were in a good position. However, the final decision was due to weather and the match was abandoned and both teams shared the points.
Prabhsimran Singh refuses to blame KKR match for PBKS’s exit
Looking back at PBKS’s IPL 2026 campaign, Prabhsimran Singh admitted that the rain-ruined game against KKR still remains a big talking point, but he did so so that no one can use that abandoned game as an excuse for the team’s failure. However, the explosive opening batsman said that they had a very good chance of winning that match had it been played at Eden Gardens.
“The one small thing that comes to mind about that match (vs KKR) is the way our team was playing at that time; we were winning every match. So, if there was a complete match, we would have won that too,” Prabhsimran Singh was quoted as saying by InsideSport.
Finally, some people may think this is an excuse, but far from it. We were in that type of situation; If we had won any two matches after that, we would have qualified and that too in the top 2. But then it would be wrong to believe that we were out because of that one match.
PBKS was chasing top-2 position: Prabhsimran Singh
The Punjab batsman also revealed that the team’s real goal was never just a playoff spot. Prabhsimran Singh shared that PBKS players and team management wanted to finish in the top two positions so that they could get an extra chance to reach the IPL final. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.
Prabhasimran signed off by saying, “The entire team and management were aiming to top the points table, but unfortunately for us things did not go as per plan.”
Notably, Prabhasimran is currently part of the India A team that is taking on Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A in the ongoing one-day triangular series in the island nation. However, he was not part of the India A squad for the two multi-day matches against Sri Lanka A.
