Punjab Kings, captained by Shreyas Iyer, began IPL 2026 in explosive fashion, winning six of their opening seven fixtures. Yet the momentum has quickly turned: the franchise has now dropped five straight matches, putting its playoff hopes in serious jeopardy. With only two games left in the league stage, PBKS can\u2019t afford another misstep and must secure wins against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).<\/p>\n
As Punjab\u2019s results have wobbled, the spotlight has also shifted off the pitch, with pacer Arshdeep Singh becoming the focal point of heated online debate. The controversy first erupted after Arshdeep shared a video on Snapchat involving Tilak Varma. In the clip, Arshdeep is heard calling out Tilak with the line \u201cOye andhere,\u201d a remark that drew widespread backlash. Fans accused the left-arm quick of \u201ccasual racism,\u201d sparking a wave of criticism across platforms.<\/p>\n
One day later, Arshdeep was again thrust into the limelight due to his response to a follower. The fan urged him to remove \u201cPunjab Kings\u201d from his name, and Arshdeep fired back that he cannot accept advice from people who still take money from their family to purchase chips and cold drinks.<\/p>\n
Ahead of PBKS\u2019s match against RCB, Andrew Leipus, the franchise\u2019s head of sports science, spoke to reporters in the pre-match media interaction about the noise surrounding Arshdeep. Leipus suggested that the pacer is not being distracted by the online chatter and described his on-field output as steady in terms of attitude and approach.<\/p>\n
While dismissing the impact of the specific controversy on Arshdeep, Leipus did acknowledge that social media culture is increasingly getting out of hand. He argued that older generations may struggle to understand why current players are so attached to their phones, and he said he tries to steer his own children away from similar habits.<\/p>\n
Turning back to the on-field side, Leipus\u2019s comments came as Arshdeep\u2019s season has been below his usual standards. Across 12 matches in IPL 2026, Arshdeep has taken 13 wickets, with an economy rate of 9.69\u2014figures that have intensified questions about his effectiveness this campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Punjab Kings, captained by Shreyas Iyer, began IPL 2026 in explosive fashion, winning six of their opening seven fixtures. Yet the momentum has quickly turned:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"PBKS vs RCB IPL 2026: Must Win to Avoid Elimination","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"PBKS are reeling after five straight losses and face must-win pressure vs RCB in IPL 2026. Can Shreyas Iyer\u2019s side stop the slide?","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n