Unstoppable and unsatisfied: how Punjab Kings marched into their first IPL playoffs in 11 years

"Saale, maarna hain, har ball boundary maarna hai. Mere sau ka maat dekh."

Two months have passed since Shreyas Iyer instructed his batting partner, Shashank Singh, to forget about Iyer's approaching hundred and hit every ball for a boundary. It was towards the end of Punjab Kings' first innings in their opening game of this year's IPL, against Gujarat Titans.

Shashank seems amazed even now as he narrates it. When Mohammed Siraj started the final over, Iyer was the non-striker, three runs short of his maiden IPL century. Shashank hit a first-ball four. The next ball, full-ish on his legs, he chipped towards midwicket and took off for what he thought was a single, until Iyer, leading Kings for the first time, screamed for a two.

"It was a risky two but an easy one," Shashank says. "Most players, non-strikers, would have opted for the easy one and [especially when] someone is playing on 97. IPL hundreds are not easy.

"Shreyas pushed me for two. He was like, "Bhaag, bhaag, doosra bhaag." [Run, run, run for two.] If you see the video, while turning back for the second, I double-check on the scoreboard - if this guy is on 97, right!?"

Iyer did not face a delivery that over, off which Shashank smacked 23 runs. Punjab won by 11 runs. The captain had set an example for Shashank and the rest of the Punjab squad, not just with the match-winning knock but his sense of team goals that would be inspirational for the side, who made the IPL playoffs for the first time in 11 years, and last Monday sealed a top-two position.

"Shreyas was so selfless," Shashank says. "He is the one who keeps the team always, always, always as a priority. That was [an example of something that] changed our vision toward the team, that this is a team sport and it is always above any individual."

Ricky Ponting, Punjab's head coach, has known and backed Iyer from since when they worked together at Delhi Capitals in the same roles. Ponting was clear that for "Project Punjab" to succeed, he needed a like-minded captain, and Iyer fit right in.

The significance for Ponting of Iyer's on-field statement of intent in Ahmedabad was that Punjab had set the tone for the rest of the tournament in their opening match. Shashank's last-over fireworks took them to 243, the highest IPL total recorded in Ahmedabad. "When you have some sort of vision in place and things sort of work out for you immediately in the first game, you know that the stuff that you've been talking about is making an impact on the boys," Ponting says. "And you see that [in] the way we played that game, that dynamic, that daring stuff, was all there. So when you are trying to make things different and create change, you need your leaders and your most experienced guys to be the first ones that buy in and sort of set the tone and set the standard."

Ponting made notes about the small but significant positives through the season. One of those was how they won their fourth match, at their home venue, Mullanpur, against Chennai Super Kings after losing the previous game there against Rajasthan Royals.

The uncapped fab four
Ponting singles out 23-year-old left-hand opening batter Priyansh Arya's contribution in the win against CSK. Based on the auction picks it was believed Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis would be Prabhsimran Singh's opening partner, but Iyer, it is learned, wanted Arya to open after he saw him bat in the nets, though it was the young batter's first IPL.

Against Royals, Arya was bowled first ball of the innings by Jofra Archer. But against CSK he brought up his first IPL hundred. Ponting says: "The fact that he was able to come out [in the CSK game] and hit his first ball over point for six off Khaleel Ahmed meant to me that what we were talking about, the things that we wanted to implement, that fearless or never-say-die attitude that I want to bring in and instil [in] all the players - for a young guy to be able to do that and then go on and play one of the best innings in the tournament so far, with a hundred in his fourth IPL game, that little moment there said to me that we've got a group here that are listening, that are willing to play a certain way for the team."

Punjab, and Titans, have raised 200-plus scores in seven games each this season, a record. While Titans' top order has been the backbone of their batting success, for Punjab it has been their Indian batters who have shone, especially the uncapped four, Prabhsimran, Arya, Shashank and Nehal Wadhera. And Iyer too, of course. The success of the four younger batters has made Punjab the first team in IPL history for whom four uncapped batters have scored over 250 runs in a season.

Prabhsimran and Shashank credit Ponting and Iyer with instilling belief in them well before the IPL started. Ahead of the player retention deadline, last October, Prabhsimran got a call from Ponting, who told him of the high regard he had had for him ever since Prabhsimran scored his first IPL century, against Delhi Capitals in 2023, when Ponting was Capitals coach. "He told me, 'I can make you a better player if Punjab can retain you,'" Prabhsimran says.

That was an exciting prospect for Prabhsimran, who had been retained by Punjab ahead of the 2022 mega auction after he joined the franchise in 2019. While he played half a dozen matches between 2019 and 2022, starting in 2023 he has played the full season for PBKS. He aggregated 358 and 334 runs at an overall strike rate of 153.4 in 2023 and 2024 - decent figures, but not world-beating ones.

Ponting is great at selling youngsters to themselves, making them believe in their potential. He told Prabhsimaran he could end up in the race for the orange cap. Though the young batter struggled for fluency in his last league match this season, against Mumbai Indians, he is already on 499 runs after 14 matches, which includes four half-centuries, all at a strike rate of 165.7. He still has two, if not three, games left this season. Ponting has been something of a prophet, like often in the past.

"Ricky sir told me that you are now among the senior players and we are backing you and our only hope is you convert the starts you get," Prabhsimran says. "I got four fifties, and after each one, when I went and spoke to him, he would remind me not to be satisfied with thirties and forties and focus on making a match-winning 75, 80 or 100. 'Even if you get a century, see how you can add another 20 or more.' Such things affected me positively."

In the rain-hit no-result against Kolkata Knight Riders, Prabhsimran and Arya smashed 83 and 69 respectively, becoming the first uncapped pair to score a 100-run partnership in IPL.

For Ponting the Punjab Kings group as a whole have understood that it is important to get routines and processes right for results to start falling into place. "We don't talk about winning, usually," Prabhsimran says. "We don't bring the ifs into our approach. 'If this happens, if that happens' - we don't focus on that. We focus on our roles. The biggest change this time is, the culture and atmosphere is different. There is no negativity. No one is talking about whether [they are] not getting any opportunity. Everyone is ready. Those who are not playing, they too are supporting those who are. That contributed to the positive vibe."

Captaincy, Iyer-style
In March, in two intra-squad matches, Shashank barely made any runs. He was frustrated and desperate. Iyer and Ponting, recognised his disappointment and intervened.

"Shreyas messaged me [and said]: 'Are you okay?' I said, yeah, yeah, all okay. He said, 'You're not okay [but I want to tell you] you are playing all 14 games. You are the best finisher in this league and obviously I trust you, Ricky trusts you, and the team trusts you. So don't worry." The next morning, Ricky sir meets me at breakfast. He said, 'All okay, bro? You're the best player that's in this team. You know it, right? You really are. That is why we retained you. So make sure that you are in a good zone. When you are in a good zone, the team will be in a good zone.'" Unshackled from insecurity, Shashank has played with freedom and been Punjab's best finisher, scoring 162 runs at a strike rate of 197 in the death overs, with just one dismissal.

This IPL, Iyer has combined instinct and strategy to take decisions in pressure situations that have shown his growth as a bowling captain. Former Australia medium-pace bowler James Hopes, Ponting's right-hand man as PBKS assistant coach, talks about the win over Super Kings in Chennai at the end of April.

"At the [second strategic] time out [Iyer] was just going to finish with the quicks," Hopes says. "It was a gut-feel decision to bowl the legspinner [Yuzvendra Chahal] because he just saw a little opening with a match-up and took it. He's pretty well planned in that aspect. He comes across as laid-back and a bit fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, but he very rarely bowls a guy when the [advantage] is not there for him." Chahal got rid of MS Dhoni with his third ball to him, and then cleaned up the tail with a hat-trick, keeping them to 190.

The demands of captaincy, and at a new franchise at that, have not cramped Iyer's batting. Not only is he Punjab's leading run-scorer, he has the second-highest post-powerplay strike rate among batters who have made at least 250 runs this season.

Ponting says Iyer's commitment to his leadership task has been admirable. In the win against Royals in Jaipur, Iyer batted and then subbed himself out because of a sore finger on his right hand. Chasing 220, Royals were 89 for 1 after the powerplay. Ponting said to Iyer: "Mate, the whole body language of the field is down. We've got to do something about it."

Iyer put on a green vest - which those in the dugout need to wear when moving about the perimeter of the field during a game - and circled the ground, talking to his players, directing fielding positions, and talking to Shashank about bowling changes.

"It would've been easy for him to sit back and just accept what happened in the game," Ponting says, "but he wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to get out there and make sure that he did everything that he could to give us the best chance of winning."

Arshdeep Singh: entertainer, bowling captain, match-winner
If Hopes is Ponting's right hand, Arshdeep is the same for Hopes. The fast bowler has been Punjab's bowling captain, not just taking wickets but also playing a central role in planning, strategy and in helping Iyer on field.

Against Lucknow Super Giants in Dharamsala, Punjab's second home base, after PBKS made 236, Arshdeep struck early and hard, removing LSG's best batters inside five overs. Punjab had planned to target the dangerous Nicholas Pooran from around the wicket. Arshdeep executed perfectly, angling a full delivery into Pooran's legs to nail him lbw. Arshdeep finished with 3 for 16, his best figures so far this season.

He suffered a rude jolt in the game against RR last week, where Yashasvi Jaiswal blasted 22 runs off the first over of the chase and Arshdeep went wicketless and leaked 60 runs, 38 of which came off his first two overs. Looking at that match, Hopes highlights how Arshdeep bounced back while giving away only eight runs in the 19th over, when Royals needed 30 off 12 balls, and eventually went on to lose by ten runs.

"Speaking to him at the timeouts, I just said to him, 'You've got 12 balls to make a difference in this game. What's happened has happened.' And just the maturity and the calmness that he showed at the end of that game to let what happened before go - he came back and executed the way that he can execute at the end, really shut that game down."

Arshdeep, who was bought back at the auction by Punjab using the right-to-match card for Rs 18 crore (US$2.14m approximately) has shown year-on-year growth and proved to be a key asset. Importantly, Hopes says he has developed a sense of flexibility about when he bowls. "He hasn't always bowled first over, he hasn't always bowled two in the powerplay. He's bowled well for us in the middle. He's bowled well for us at the end."

Arshdeep has also helped other bowlers both on and off the field. PBKS and South Africa bowling allrounder Marco Jansen, when asked about his partnership with Arshdeep flashes a smile.

"He's a funny guy," Jansen says. "I can hear him a mile away. From out of nowhere [he'll say] 'Marco, yaar' and then I'll just go, 'Arsh, yaar.'

"I really enjoyed working with him and playing with him, especially because initially I thought he wasn't going to be as open to sharing how different grounds play and how the different wickets react with the ball and what happens. [Arshdeep's knowledge and inputs were] very, very helpful for me."

Jansen laughs that it has not been all one-way traffic. "If you ask him, he learns how to swing the ball from me as well, so it's a give and take," he says, before adding, "I'm joking.

"It is basically just bouncing questions or ideas off one another," Jansen says. It's also about keeping it simple. "So in the previous game [the win against Royals], for example, we were at the pool and I basically just asked Hopesy, what do you think we did wrong and what can we do in the next game? And it's, like, easy answers: we were too full in that particular game. It's like small chats, easy chats, not going too deep into detail or searching for things that are not there, trying to keep it as simple as possible and just basically do what we do best. Arsh basically swings the ball both ways and I just try and hit the wicket on a good length. If it swings, it swings. If it doesn't swing, it doesn't swing. And yeah, we're just enjoying it at the moment."

Unlike Mumbai Indians, who have stuck to Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar to open the bowling for them so far this season, six bowlers have bowled the first over for Punjab; one of them is Arshdeep, who last year opened the bowling all through the season. This IPL, Punjab have played it by ear. They used that adaptability in their miraculous home win against reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders when they defended the smallest target in IPL history, 112. Jansen and Xavier Bartlett shared the first three overs in the powerplay and Arshdeep came in in the fourth.

"We knew Marco had a really, really good match-up against [Sunil] Narine and we knew that Xavier Bartlett, the way he swings the ball, was a really good match-up against Quinnie de Kock - and the rest of them, to be honest. So we decided to be brave enough to do that and we got the results, and that was another example of Arshdeep just stepping up and doing his thing in a different role."

The Yuzi factor
Punjab have been among the most pace-heavy bowling teams this season. They have bowled only 72.5 overs of spin in the league phase, the second lowest this season. After five matches, Hopes pointed out that they needed to find a way to get their premier legspinner, Chahal, in if they wanted to win the IPL. Chahal did not get to finish his quota of overs in three of the first four matches, and that was becoming a point of concern, particularly considering he was the second most expensive buy at the auction for Punjab, who paid Rs 18 crore for him too.

"We weren't putting him in the game at the right time," Hopes says. "Sometimes he was bowling an over that was like we were hoping for the best as opposed to [that] being when he should be bowling. That can sometimes happen when you've got one spinner. There were some left-handers out there, so [we] bowled [Glenn] Maxwell occasionally instead of him, which worked as well. But the game against KKR was when he just got a little bit of a sniff." That was a game Ponting described as probably his best win as a coach in the IPL, and a "season-defining" one, coming as it did on the heels of PBKS having failed to defend 245 in their previous match, against Royals.

Chahal bowled all four overs, scripting Punjab's escape to victory with 4 for 28. "His first, one of his first two balls, I think, spun a little bit and then it was all over," Hopes says. "You could tell straight away the way that this ball started to come out of his hand, and since then he's just been normal Chahal."

Chahal, who has been on the bench due to a niggle in his right wrist in the final two league matches, has been Punjab's best bowler at Mullanpur, taking five wickets there. In the 14 wickets he has taken in 11 innings this season, he has two four-wicket hauls. All but one of those wickets have come in the middle or death overs.

"Beautifully prepared" for the playoffs
After 2014, when they lost to Knight Riders in the final, this is the first time Punjab have finished on top of the leader board heading into the playoffs.

On Thursday they face Royal Challengers at home. While Punjab will have two opportunities to make the final, their goal is clear: be there on the podium on June 3 to lift the trophy. From the first time he addressed the squad, Ponting was clear that it was about finishing among the top two on the points table. "So the fact that we have qualified, yes, that was a great landmark, a great achievement for the franchise because it's been a long time, but we're not happy with that," he says. "We're not satisfied with what we've done there. That's just the start of it for us, that's one part of the season done."

The playoffs are not another day at the office, Ponting says. "You can't hide from the fact that it is a bigger game. I hear people all the time say, 'It's just another game.' It's not. There is more pressure. There's more to the build-up of it.

"But that doesn't mean you need to play the game any differently. Internally we'll play exactly the same way because we know when we've played our best cricket, it's been as good as, if not better than, any other team in the tournament.

"I've always been a big believer in the enormity of the situation brings the best out in players. You can't fake it. You can't try and get yourself up anymore. You can't try any harder because I know my group of players here have been beautifully prepared. They've been ready for every situation that's come up. And when we've been under pressure most, looking back through this tournament, is generally when this team's played its best."