Hopes hopes for late turnaround as PBKS stare at elimination

Punjab Kings were subjected to their sixth straight defeat, further denting their playoff chances in IPL 2026. Fast bowling coach James Hopes admitted the team is now staring at elimination after another disappointing defeat, saying the side has struggled to seize momentum in key moments throughout the tournament.

"We are staring it in the face now," he said. "There's still hope, but we need to turn it around. We need to tidy up some areas." Reflecting on the defeat, he said Punjab were constantly "chasing their tail" with the ball despite controlling phases of the Powerplay.

"I felt like every time we got momentum back, they'd have one big over and get back on top. Then in the chase, we got going a little bit, but it petered out. We lost too many wickets early," he added.

"At the moment, it's going to be about instilling that belief back into them. And we've been trying. It's not through lack of training. It's not through lack of planning," he said reflectively.

"The boys are training well. The boys are planning well. It's just that we get into moments where we think, 'Okay, we'll get the game back our way now,' and it's just not happening," he said.

Hopes defended the bowling attack, particularly Arshdeep Singh, insisting results have been affected by missed chances in the field rather than defensive bowling.

"Arshdeep has bowled very well in the back half of the tournament. There've been plays and misses, catches dropping short of fielders and missed opportunities," he said.

"If you add four dropped catches off his bowling, he's probably sitting on a 17 or 18-wicket season. He fronts up every training session and every game ready to go. He's a warrior."

The bowling coach also backed the side's top order despite another failure in a steep chase. "I don't think a top order performs every game. Most top orders in this tournament play a high-risk game and sometimes it doesn't come off," he said.

Punjab are still in the race for the playoffs but will now need other results to go their way ahead of their final league game. "We haven't taken our opportunities in the last two weeks and now we're where we are. There's no hiding behind it," he said. "We need to regroup, hope results go our way over the next few days and make sure we're playing for something next Saturday," he added.