Ask someone in Punjab about the best time to head to Himachal’s hill country and you’ll often hear the answer: there’s never a bad moment. For a particular set of IPL 2026 hopefuls, though, the calendar has turned unfriendly—because their season is already being tested in Dharamsala, and they are there at precisely the wrong point of the campaign. Punjab Kings (PBKS) had only just begun to settle into the “New Chandigarh” conditions, starting to feel more comfortable about turning things around even when the toss didn’t go their way. Then Dharamsala reared up as their recurring problem. The venue has been a nemesis for PBKS, with just one win in their last seven matches there since their return in 2023.
Why home venues define IPL teams
The franchises that dominate in the IPL are often the ones that make their own grounds feel like fortresses. Over the years, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) built a side that looked near-unbeatable at Chepauk at their peak. Gujarat Titans (GT), widely viewed as the league’s most steady performers since entering the competition, have worked extremely well in Ahmedabad; there is even a belief among some insiders that the playing surface’s clay behaves differently depending on the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses.
For a long stretch, the same sort of home dominance also applied to Rajasthan Royals (RR). That changed only when Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium fell into disrepair, forcing RR to split their home matches elsewhere. Until then, they were consistently formidable at home and never far away from being a hard team to beat.
When titles are won without a single fixed home
IPL history also shows that concentrating home matches into more than one venue can still end in the ultimate success. Outside CSK’s triumph in 2018 and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)’s title win in 2014, no other team that competed in India has played its home schedule across two venues and still lifted the trophy.
In both of those title-winning cases, the teams had to move away from their usual base due to circumstances beyond their control. PBKS, RR, Delhi Capitals (DC), and now Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) remain the only franchises that continue to distribute their home games by choice.
PBKS’ shifting “home” identity—and Dharamsala’s impact
PBKS, previously known as Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), have long had an uneasy relationship with the idea of “home.” There have been seasons when they played in Mohali—home to one of the biggest outfields in the country and also one of the lowest-scoring grounds—while also spending time in Indore, a compact venue that has often suited extremely high totals. Managing cricket plans across such different environments has not been straightforward for the team’s leadership.
Timeline of PBKS’ recent home changes
- In 2021, the franchise rebranded from KXIP to PBKS.
- Dharamsala returned to the schedule in 2023 after a ten-year absence.
- In 2024, the club shifted its primary home base from Mohali to New Chandigarh.
- In 2025, the leadership group was built around Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting.
Yet even with all these changes, PBKS still carry the poorest home win-loss record among active teams for the period starting in 2021 and continuing through 2024. Across active franchises, they are second-worst overall, with only Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) below them.
Why playing Dharamsala now is a major hurdle
That context matters when assessing the decision to play three of PBKS’ seven home matches in Dharamsala. A central part of home advantage is the ability to shape a squad that can handle the consequences of losing the toss—especially in local conditions where matchups and preparation can be tuned to specific ground realities.
PBKS had been building toward that in New Chandigarh, another venue known for having a larger outfield. Then the team had to re-calibrate for Dharamsala, which is a smaller ground where the toss has repeatedly proved significant. The challenge comes in different forms: heavy dew has affected how games develop against DC, while the pitch settling as the match progresses has been a factor against Mumbai Indians (MI).
The situation becomes even tougher because their problems were already brewing before they arrived in Dharamsala. Having started the league stage with seven consecutive games without defeat, PBKS now find themselves needing to win both of their remaining matches to have a realistic chance of progressing out of the league phase. Finishing in the top two now appears extremely difficult. One of those must-win fixtures is against the table-topping Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
The only genuine comfort is scheduling: the clash with RCB in Dharamsala is an afternoon game. In those conditions, the toss often matters less than it does when dew or overnight humidity shifts the balance. In other words, PBKS at least get the opportunity to win a toss in a match where the toss is less decisive than in others—an advantage they can’t afford to waste.
Still, even with the best planning, IPL success requires strong cricket, not just favorable circumstances. PBKS do have one edge over teams that only see Dharamsala once a year: they understand the ground better through more frequent exposure. If they want to be champions, they will need to solve this challenge rather than hope it goes away. At the same time, franchises also need owners who make squad-building easier—because spreading home matches across multiple venues with very different characteristics makes the job harder from the start.
