In the last 18 seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Punjab Kings (PBKS) has been a team that often looked strong on paper but could not perform as per expectations on the field. However, the story of IPL 2026 seems to have completely changed. This season, Punjab Kings are not only winning the matches but are also defeating the opposition teams in a one-sided manner. With 6 matches being unbeaten, Shreyas Iyer’s army has captured the top of the points table, forcing fans and cricket pundits to ask, what is the secret of Punjab’s transformation?
PBKS has played six matches so far in IPL 2026. They have won five of these six matches, while one match was abandoned due to rain. At the time of writing this news, PBKS is at the top of the points table with 11 points and a net run rate of +1.420. Neither RCB nor Rajasthan Royals (RR) have performed like PBKS so far this season.
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The biggest reason for this change is the vision of the team management, which was clearly visible during the mega auction. The pairing of captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Ricky Ponting has completely changed the atmosphere of the team’s dressing room. Instead of playing only defensively, the team is now attacking the opposition camp from the very first over. Making a huge score of 254 runs in the recent match against Lucknow Super Giants is proof that this team now has the ability to destroy any bowling attack.
Top order took command of batting
The second big secret of Punjab’s victory is the fearless play of their young players. The way Priyansh Arya is batting, the absence of Shikhar Dhawan is not being felt at all in the top order. Prabhsimran Singh is also handling the responsibility of opening brilliantly. On the other hand, Australia’s young all-rounder Cooper Connolly showed strong finishing. After the dismissal of these youngsters, Shreyas Iyer is also scoring a lot of runs with the bat. Then as soon as Marcus Stoinis comes to the crease, he attacks the bowlers.
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In all the matches that PBKS has won so far, batsmen have been chosen player of the match the most number of times. Among these, Priyansh Arya has received the maximum award.
| match | opposition team | result | player of the match |
| match 4 | Gujarat Titans | won by 3 wickets | cooper connolly |
| match 7 | Chennai Super Kings | won by 5 wickets | Priyansh Arya |
| match 17 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | won by 6 wickets | Shreyas Iyer |
| match 24 | Mumbai Indians | won by 7 wickets | Arshdeep Singh |
| match 29 | Lucknow Super Giants | won by 54 runs | Priyansh Arya |
The bowling department is also tremendous
Not just batting, PBKS’s bowling has emerged as their biggest strength this time. Arshdeep Singh is taking wickets in the powerplay and death overs with his yorker and swing, while experienced spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is trapping the batsmen in the middle overs with his spin. Marco Johnson’s additional bounce and pace has provided more variety to the bowling attack. This is why it is becoming easier for the team to defend small targets.
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