Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) rise in IPL 2026 has been powered largely by their explosive batting, but Tuesday’s match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) proved that even a strong batting display can be undone when the bowlers don’t quite close the gap. Fast-bowling coach James Hopes kept his message measured, suggesting the side simply needed to “tidy up a few things,” yet Piyush Chawla was more direct—calling PBKS’ first loss of the season an “eye opener.” Both Chawla and Abhinav Mukund also flagged Arshdeep Singh’s current form as a “concern.”
Arshdeep—long a key figure in PBKS’ pace unit and the spearhead of their fast-bowling group—has managed only eight wickets from eight matches so far, with an economy rate of 10.96. He has also sent down the most wides among his PBKS peers, having bowled 19 so far. Looking wider across the tournament, among the 33 bowlers who have delivered at least 120 balls this season, Arshdeep is the only one to have conceded more than 10% of his deliveries as wides: 19 out of 180 legal deliveries (10.56%). Eshan Malinga is next on the list with 16 out of 162 (9.88%).
“A concern. Because Arshdeep Singh, no matter how many runs he leaks, he comes back in the death, nails the yorkers. We’ve always known Arshdeep to be a very, very good yorker bowler,” Abhinav said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut. “I don’t mind him going for those wide, because he targets those wide lines. [But] today I felt that the plan wasn’t right.”
In the RR game, Arshdeep bowled just one wide; however, he still leaked plenty of runs, conceding 68 in his four overs. His figures across the spells read 15 and 22 in the two powerplay overs, 14 in the 15th over, and 17 in the 18th.
Chawla pointed out that Arshdeep’s usual role at the start of innings has not been delivering results. “He’s somebody who’s known to strike with the new ball, and that hasn’t been happening. In the match where he gets wickets with the new ball, he ends up producing a wonderful spell—like what happened against MI [3 for 22]. But this season, he’s going at almost 11 runs per over. I understand he bowls those difficult overs in the powerplay and then at the death, but he’s still your premium bowler,” Chawla said.
“A match or two here and there, you can expect [him to struggle], but it’s occurring too often. That’s why it becomes a concern, because when you’re thinking about the bigger picture—heading into the playoffs—you need to ask what happens if something like this shows up in a knockout game. Then you’re forced into a chase and a catch-up situation instead of being in control.”
Chawla also described the defeat as a useful warning sign. “The loss to RR is good—it’s like an eye-opener. Even in the DC [Delhi Capitals] game—yes, I know the record, the chase, and everything… and it was a good wicket—but if you’re giving away 265 [264], that’s still something to worry about. PBKS chased down DC’s 264 with seven balls left in that match.”
Hopes, meanwhile, addressed PBKS’ bowling issues at length during the post-match press conference. “First things first: yes, we are conceding [a lot of runs], but I believe we’ve had pitches that have suited us [and] we’ve done okay. I’m not saying the wicket didn’t suit our bowling attack—only that it’s a very good surface. It’s flat and the ball is moving quickly.”
He added that PBKS entered the RR contest with a slightly altered approach. “We went in with a slightly different look tonight. Our two spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Harpreet Brar, bowled really well. We also got Lockie Ferguson into the tournament, which is a positive heading into the final stretch with six pool games left.”
Hopes also suggested that match conditions might have forced fast bowlers into a tougher rhythm. “We’ve got things we can tidy up, but I feel that the cricket being played right now—especially in the first six overs—is hard for fast bowlers. Brar bowled a lovely over today [two runs in the fifth over], so maybe spin could be an option. But once again, if we get suitable conditions and the ball swings a bit, then we’ll be fine.”
After winning six of their first seven matches, with one washout in the mix, PBKS had looked like they were cruising. They still sit at the top of the table, but this single defeat has started to expose cracks that had previously been covered up.
Hopes summed up the moment as both a setback and a chance to reset. “It’s a reality check, and that’s exactly what it is. Yes, we’ve been flying—we’ve been winning—and it’s been brilliant. The environment is still great. And look, one loss is part of cricket; you’re not going to play through the IPL without dropping a game. But now it’s happened, and we’ve got a few days to regroup before we face GT [Gujarat Titans] on May 3.”
He concluded: “It’s about getting back to work—training for a couple of days—and then ironing out a few kinks, figuring out the best combination for the conditions we’ll get and the opposition we’ll face over the next couple of matches.”
