Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer (PTI photo) Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer admitted his side fell short in execution with the ball after suffering their first defeat in IPL 2026 despite putting up a commanding total against Rajasthan Royals.Reflecting on the loss, Iyer felt the total on the board was more than competitive on the tricky surface. “I thought 224 on the board was a great score. Credit to the batsmen for coming up and going against the bowlers. I thought it was an exceptional performance, especially on this wicket which was a bit tacky and slow,” he said.
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Yuzvendra Chahal on team mentality, high scores and bowling challenges in IPLHowever, the captain pointed to errors in execution with the ball as a turning point. “And I think we fell a bit behind in our bowling in terms of execution. We were planning to bounce a lot of the slower players, hit the pace, yorkers. I think we fell a bit short there. And they also had a tremendous partnership in the middle, especially with Ferreira and Shubham Dubey coming in and giving those key runs at the end.”Punjab Kings were cruising at one stage but a stunning late attack from Donovan Ferreira (52* off 26) and Shubham Dubey (31* off 12) turned the game on its head and sealed the chase with four balls to spare.Iyer also acknowledged the increasing challenge for bowlers in the modern T20 game. “You see, this is a format where I feel a lot of players have changed their game and when they come in, they hit the ball first. So it’s a challenge for the bowlers to come up with a plan. But at the end of the day, I feel it’s all about execution. If you have a plan, if you execute it well, you’re going to win. And today was just not our day.”Despite the setback, Iyer remained calm about the journey ahead. “I think it’s important that we stick to the things that we’ve been doing, the routines and the processes that we’ve followed all the time. We had a game, we had to travel and then come and play another game. So I think the body was a little bit tired as well, but that can’t be the reason here. But we have a few days to freshen up, get back to the drawing board and come back strong.”The PBKS captain called it a learning experience and stressed the importance of staying positive. “Well, definitely. I feel like this is our first loss of the season, so it definitely teaches you a lot. And we’ve also played a lot of games where we’ve chased 200-plus, we’ve defended 200-plus. So this is just one of those games where things didn’t go our way and we just have to push it aside. And I feel like that might be optimistic in retrospect, but I’d like to stay optimistic, a lot of things approach.”He also reserved special praise for Harpreet Brar, who impressed on a tough pitch. “Yes, absolutely. I felt it was difficult to score from the spinners because it held a bit and also gave them a bit of turn. Not that much, but a bit. But Harpreet Brar, yes, he comes in his first game, he shows that kind of personality to give just 25 runs in four balls (overs) and he turns out to be the best bowler in his whole team.”With Punjab Kings now set to play in Dharamsala, Iyer kept the message simple when asked about the new venue: “Nothing, just win,” he said with a smile.
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