2 weeks ago
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Five losses connected the bounce person near Punjab Kings with the unenviable task of taking down defending champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru to support its playoffs hopes alive.
In what could beryllium the defining crippled of their IPL 2026 season present connected Sunday (May 17, 2026), the baggage of an unfavourable head-to-head grounds and a drawstring of losses astatine the HPCA Stadium lone adhd to the Kings’ quandary.
Since 2023, PBKS has conscionable 1 triumph successful 7 games astatine the venue. And Virat Kohli’s crowd-pulling beingness mightiness permission it with bladed enactment astatine its ‘adopted’ home. It volition besides person to enactment the horrors of consecutive playoffs losses to RCB down it.
Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer during a signifier league connected the eve of the IPL T20 lucifer against Royal Challengers Bengaluru astatine the HPCA Stadium successful Dharamshala, connected Saturday, May 16, 2026. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY
In the archetypal of those defeats, successful the archetypal Qualifier successful 2025, Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had torn done PBKS’ top-order. Bhuvneshwar, surfing the precocious of a purple patch, could again disrupt up front, having had the amended of Prabhsimran Singh 4 times successful 9 innings.
“For us, Bhubneshwar did good past play also. This season, it is simply a antithetic relation for him. He is simply a world-class bowler and you cognize what accomplishment acceptable helium has. He is conscionable enjoying his bowling and expressing himself freely,” said Omkar Salvi, RCB’s bowling coach.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli during the signifier league connected the eve of the IPL T20 lucifer against Punjab Kings astatine the HPCA Stadium successful Dharamshala, connected Saturday, May 16, 2026. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY
Though conscionable 1 triumph distant from sealing a top-four spot, RCB has its ain batting frailties to thin to. Kohli comes connected the backmost of a record-extending ninth IPL century, but his back-to-back ducks successful the preceding 2 games springiness PBKS a program to onslaught him with seam.
Jacob Bethell averages conscionable 14.17 this season, which has near RCB without the explosive starts that it was accustomed to with Phil Salt. Down the order, Jitesh Sharma’s woeful tally is astir apt the biggest interest for RCB arsenic it gears up for post-season.
