With the 33-run loss against hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday night, the Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings suffered their third consecutive loss of this year’s IPL. After being unbeaten in their first seven matches this season, Punjab are now placed second in the points table with 13 points. Punjab have lost against the hosts Hyderabad for the ninth time in as many years since 2017. Following their third successive loss, skipper Shreyas Iyer said that continuing in the same form is not going to help the team. “Yes, absolutely. I feel we got a fairytale start in this tournament and everyone was in great space. And the mindset was top notch. I think it’s important that we stick to the same mindset. It’s easy to get diverted and talk negatively about things. But if we are going to continue with the same form, that’s not going to help us. But definitely we are going back and reflecting on things that we did not do well in particularly the last three matches. And see to it that we come back strong,” said Iyer while speaking in the post-match presentation. ALSO READ | How Punjab Kings lost top spot to Sunrisers Hyderabad with butter fingers With Iyer winning the toss and electing to bowl first, Sunrisers posted a total of 235 for 4 in 20 overs. During the Hyderabad innings, Punjab dropped as many as three catches. Cooper Connolly dropped Ishan Kishan in the eighth over before Shashank Singh dropped Heinrich Klaasen at a score of nine runs in the ninth over. Lockie Ferguson also dropped Kishan in the 11th over off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal. Iyer shared how dropping catches played a much bigger role as that could have resulted in a much lower target set by Hyderabad. “I think it was too much because we dropped too many catches at the start and we could have easily delayed their score by 30-40 runs. Because the wicket kept getting slower and the cutters were holding up a bit. So we were not comprehensive enough on the field, neither in bowling nor in batting. So I think they played comprehensive cricket and they showed us how to win the match,” added Iyer. Chahal claimed one wicket for 32 runs in the match and his economy of 8.00 was the lowest among Punjab Kings’ bowlers in the match. Chahal now has a total of nine wickets in this year’s IPL in 11 matches. Iyer showered praise on the leg-spinner for his spell. “Certainly the way he bowled, he was fearless and his attitude was fantastic against left-handers. I asked him to be attacking especially when the new batsmen were in because they were in charge right from ball one. And it was crucial to get wickets at that point of time. Unfortunately, we were not able to take catches. I think that was the biggest setback in today’s game. But definitely, something to reflect on and come back stronger,” said Iyer.
Shreyas Iyer reacts to Punjab’s third successive loss in IPL 2026: ‘Easy to talk negatively…’
