Punjab Kings’ impressive start to the IPL 2026 season took a pause, but skipper Shreyas Iyer refused to panic after their first defeat of the season. Speaking about the defeat, Iyer called it a valuable learning point in a long tournament. He asserted that the team has already shown strength in high-scoring games, whether defending the targets or chasing them down.
Punjab Kings’ unbeaten streak was broken by a spirited performance from Rajasthan Royals, who chased down a target of 223 with ease. The chase was led by splendid half-centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Donovan Ferreira. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played an explosive cameo, blasting 43 off 16.
"I thought 224 (222) on the board was a brilliant score. Kudos to the batsmen, the way they came up and went against the bowlers. I think it was an exceptional performance, especially on this wicket, which was a bit tacky and slow. And I think we fell a bit short in our bowling, in terms of execution. We had planned to bowl a lot of slower ones, pace off, yorkers. I think we fell a bit short over there. And also, they had a tremendous partnership in the middle, especially by Ferreira and Shubham Dubey coming in and scoring those crucial runs at the end," Iyer said after the match.
Iyer further urged his side to keep their mindset forward-looking and bounce back stronger.
"I feel that this is our first loss of the season, so it definitely teaches you a lot. And also, we've played a lot of games where we have chased 200 plus, and we have defended 200 plus. So this is just one of those games where things didn't go our way, and we just have to push it aside. And I feel that in retrospect, many things could have happened, but I just want to stay positive going ahead and be optimistic in our approach," Iyer said.