Home discomforts: Punjab Kings and the cost of split venues

The IPL's salary-cap structure creates squads with compromises. No team can cover every base, making home conditions central to squad building. The most successful franchises have prioritised constructing XIs tailored to their home venue. Almost every IPL champion has finished with a positive home win-loss ratio.

The exceptions—Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012 and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2025—offset it with rare seven-match away winning streaks, an extreme outlier. Sustained home success comes from maximising familiar conditions and reducing toss dependency. Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk, Mumbai Indians at Wankhede (2013-2019), Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur (pre-2018) all followed that model.

Since the IPL returned to the full home-and-away format in 2023, teams operating out of a single home venue have generally enjoyed stronger home records than those splitting matches across multiple grounds. Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings—based out of multiple home venues—sit at the bottom of the home win-loss charts. RCB have been the exception despite using a second venue for the first time in 19 years.

Teams at home venues since 2023

No side has struggled more than Punjab Kings, having lost more than double the number of games they won. Since 2023, they have gone 8-19 at home while becoming the only franchise to play at three venues—Mohali, New Chandigarh and Dharamsala. They have won just one of five matches in Mohali and one of eight in Dharamsala, while their returns in New Chandigarh are better at 6-8.

The challenge is magnified by how contrasting those venues are. New Chandigarh has one of the biggest outfields in the IPL, with scoring becoming progressively harder once the field spreads. Punjab used this to script a superb comeback against Sunrisers Hyderabad despite conceding 105 in the Powerplay. They have gradually adapted there: one win in five matches in 2024 became two in five in 2025, and three in four in 2026.

Since 2023, New Chandigarh has been the most spin-friendly venue in the IPL. Yet Punjab have consistently bowled a lower share of spin than visiting teams and produced poorer returns. Only in their final league game at the venue did they match the opposition's spin usage, but an off day from the seamers rendered it irrelevant. Despite playing at the most spin-friendly venue, Punjab has bowled the fewest share of spin overs in IPL 2026.

Spinners in New Chandigarh in IPL

Dharamsala presents the opposite challenge. The smaller ground, especially under lights, makes defending totals difficult. Punjab lost the toss in both night matches there in 2026, posted below-par scores after being sent in and watched them get chased down comfortably. Even when the toss went their way, their attack leaked heavily, conceding 220+ in three of the four games they bowled first since 2023.

Punjab began the season unbeaten through the first half but their campaign unraveled once they moved to their second home. The contrast between New Chandigarh and Dharamsala has exposed the lack of a bowling attack built to consistently adapt across conditions. Marginal disadvantages like tosses, venue dimensions and bowling composition have accumulated enough to now threaten their playoff spot.