Punjab Kings’ climb in IPL 2026 looked almost unstoppable after they reeled off victories in their first six completed matches. But the momentum has flipped sharply: the franchise has now dropped six straight games, leaving their spot in the playoffs no longer fully controlled by their own results. With their remaining league match set against Lucknow Super Giants, PBKS know they must win at Lucknow and also rely on other results to fall into place. Ahead of the encounter, head coach Ricky Ponting suggested the recent downturn has come down to narrow margins, even as he admitted the team has not been operating at its best.
Ponting pointed to the point where things began to unravel. “We were exceptional for our first seven or six games,” he said, before describing how a washout against Kolkata Knight Riders altered the flow. From that moment, he felt PBKS became slightly off the mark—“small things,” in his words. Those details, he argued, could have swung several outcomes in their favour, potentially turning the recent slide into a very different league standing. “We’re in the situation that we’re in as a result of not playing at our best over the last few weeks,” Ponting added, while also stressing that the side has a clear understanding of what their best brand of cricket looks like and what they need to execute to win on match day.
Lucknow, by contrast, arrive with the advantage of low pressure. They have already been eliminated from the playoffs race, which means there is little direct consequence attached to the result beyond franchise pride and personal performances. Still, Ponting believes that freedom can be risky for the opposition, because teams with nothing to lose sometimes play with greater freedom and intent. He also highlighted form coming into the contest, noting that LSG have won three of their last four matches—factors that add urgency for PBKS despite the stakes not being as immediate on Lucknow’s side.
Ponting’s message to his team was clear: go after the game with courage. “I mean they, Lucknow, going into tomorrow, apart from probably personal pride and pride for the franchise’s performance, they’ve really got nothing else to lose,” he said. “So teams can be dangerous in that way.” He said PBKS understand that dynamic and want to respond to it with the right mindset. “That’s the way that I want my boys to play as well. I want us to be fearless and I want us to be daring,” Ponting continued. He urged the players to press forward rather than be distracted by what could go wrong, insisting the focus should stay on controlling the contest through positive decisions and momentum-building cricket.
As part of that approach, Ponting added that impact matters—one spell, one partnership, one over at a time. “It’s really important we focus on the positive things and what you can do as an individual player to make an impact on the game there and then,” he said, underlining that the team must channel pressure into execution rather than hesitation.
Even with their qualification situation hanging by a thread, PBKS are trying to prevent anxiety from taking root. Ponting said the camp has kept a calm tone, with preparation conducted under a relaxed atmosphere rather than one driven by fear of outcomes. “The atmospheres remain very positive and very relaxed,” he said. In his view, panic is the worst response a team can have in a scenario like this, because it disrupts routines and decision-making. Instead, he stressed the importance of sticking to what has worked before—both as players and as a coaching group—and ensuring that the build-up to the game stays constructive.
“You’ve just got to stick to what you know has worked for you in the past as a player and certainly as a coach and a group of coaches, that’s exactly what we’ve done,” Ponting explained. He said the priority has been to keep the environment upbeat and allow the players to focus on getting ready properly for the match, confident that their preparation can carry them through the pressure of a must-win game.
