IPL 2026: Will this be the year that the Punjab Kings finally lift the IPL trophy?
The Indian Premier League is well underway and with match 32 being played on Wednesday, we’re nearing the middle of the 2026 IPL season, writes Sports News Blitz’s Darshan Kaur Gill.
The IPL is a professional T20 cricket league based in India founded in 2008, by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
It contains 10 teams based across India and each team plays 14 matches in the regular season.
The top four teams then advance into the playoffs, an elimination-style tournament, until one team is victorious and lifts the IPL trophy.
The Punjab Kings have been part of the league since it was founded, however have only made it close to lifting the trophy twice in the IPL’s 19-year-long history, that being the 2014 season and the 2025 season.
So far the top of the table looks pretty similar to last season with the 2025 runners up, Punjab Kings, sitting firmly in first place with 11 points, becoming the first IPL team ever to remain unbeaten through the first six matches of the season.
Stacked line-up
Following last year’s mega auction and this year’s mini auction, the team has quite a stacked line-up of players.
Minimal changes have been made to their 2025 line-up, with the Kings acquiring two all-rounders, Cooper Connolly and Ben Dwarshuis, and two bowlers, Vishal Wishad and Lockie Ferguson, at this year’s mini auction.
It is obvious that these changes to the team’s line-up has benefitted them as their bowling is becoming a strength and prior to the first game of the season, coach Ricky Ponting said: “I don't think there are too many gaps now… I think overall, we should be getting stronger.”
Former South Africa captain, Faf du Plessis, recently said: “You have to look at what they have in their team.
“It’s not a team that is lacking offensive skill sets… It’s not by chance that they are one of the better bowling units.”
Peaking too early?
Are the team peaking too early? It’s a question that many fans are asking all over social media - are Punjab getting too comfortable before we even reach the middle of the regular season?
Are they getting too lax with their fielding?
It’s evident in some of their games that wicket-taking isn’t their focus, thanks to the high-scoring batsmen they have on the team.
They recently made 254/7 in their 54-run victory over the Lucknow Super Giants and due to the lead they had, Punjab became sloppy and started dropping a series of catches.
Despite this, they still stopped Lucknow dead in their tracks as they only made 200/5 and are still at the top of the table, three points clear of every other team.
The answer to the question of whether they are peaking too early, can only be answered by Punjab, as they need to prove whether they are able to keep up the same momentum that they’ve had this early into the season.
Will the Punjab Kings win it this season?
Based on what the Kings have shown of their skill so far, they are on track to take it all come the end of the season.
With there still eight more games of the regular season left for them, Punjab will have to tune out the voices of those doubting them and prove that they are ready to finally win the IPL.
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