Punjab Kings continued their unbeaten start to the Indian Premier League 2026 season, this time making quick and easy work of a 196-run target against the Jasprit Bumrah-led bowling attack of Mumbai Indians. Key in the chase was Prabhsimran Singh’s 80* and captain Shreyas Iyer’s 66, and the skipper reflected on the mood of being at the top of the table again – and what his spectacular catch to remove Hardik Pandya had to do with it.
“Certainly confident and optimistic going forward. The way we’ve been playing is phenomenal, at the same time we have our head on our shoulders,” said Shreyas in the post-match interview for the broadcasters. “We know each game we are going to come and it’s going to be important for us as a team. I’m glad today we got that comprehensive victory.”
Turning point – Shreyas' catch
In the first innings, MI looked set for a massive total as centurion Quinton de Kock and Naman Dhir were going hard through the middle. MI’s platform looked set – but Iyer’s incredibly athletic relay catch to remove his opposite number Hardik Pandya was the momentum shifter, slowing down MI’s innings.
The PBKS captain was happy to admit as much. Presenter Ian Bishop asked him – “At one point MI were looking for well over 200, what was the key in pulling things back?” Shreyas answered with a smile, happy to acknowledge his own role as fielding excellence had an impact on the result.
“I think my catch. We’ve got this tendency of pulling things back, like against SRH. Negate the boundaries, don’t think too far ahead of the game,” explained Shreyas.
{{/usCountry}}“I think my catch. We’ve got this tendency of pulling things back, like against SRH. Negate the boundaries, don’t think too far ahead of the game,” explained Shreyas.
{{/usCountry}}Prabhsimran's maturity impresses skipper
After a pair of early wickets in the chase, Punjab saw a 128-run partnership between Prabhsimran and Shreyas, who himself looks completely unflappable in chases of any size, hauling down scores in the 200-range for fun.
But it was his younger batting partner, who saw through the chase unbeaten, that he lavished praise on.
“He has raised his bar… he’s got that maturity to finish off the game. Great to see youngsters take responsibility and say I’m going to win the match for the team,” Shreyas said of Prabhsimran, who is one of the form openers in this year’s IPL.
Setting totals next on the card
Punjab have enjoyed the ability to chase game after game enroute to their four wins, but the next challenge might well be maintaining that same form and quality while defending a total. Iyer appreciated that they have had the toss luck and that there is planning to do, but that remains a goal as well.
“We haven’t decided [about setting totals]. I’ve been lucky to win tosses so far, and always ready for the challenge of batting first, ready to go out there and express ourselves,” explained the PBKS captain. “I personally feel you need to keep getting better every game, that’s the recipe we’ve been following so far,” he concluded.
Punjab now have 9 points at the top of the table, while MI are languishing close to the bottom – at the moment, it certainly looks like the trophyless franchise is eager to drop that particular adjective regarding their team.