New Delhi: Shashank Singh’s eyes welled up in the middle. The dugout slumped into dejection. The target was now beyond reach. Once again, it was not to be for the Punjab Kings.
Yet, while RCB’s victory echoes loud, emotions run high, and fan edits flood social media, it’s almost impossible to ignore the Punjab Kings, the runner-ups, who mounted an incredible campaign before falling short by just 6 runs.
This year’s IPL could have been a perfect redemption story for the franchise. For only the second time since 2014, when they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), they not only broke into the playoffs but went all the way to the final.
Over the past 18 seasons, the Kings XI Punjab— later renamed as Punjab Kings (PBKS) — story has oscillated between hope and heartbreak. There have been golden patches, but they are few and far between.
Despite boasting players like Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, and more, the team could never really flourish. It started to appear the problem was not a lack of talent but a lack of cohesion, consistency, and stability.
This year, though, the Punjab Kings looked a completely different outfit under Shreyas Iyer and coach Ricky Ponting. Their reunion—they previously worked together at the Delhi Capitals—revived a team long familiar with life at the bottom of the IPL points table.
Punjab’s gamble on uncapped talents also contributed to the turnaround this edition. The team backed four uncapped players — Prabhsimran Singh (549 runs), Priyansh Arya (475), Shashank Singh (350), and Nehal Wadhera (369) — all of whom delivered standout performances and played key roles in the team’s outstanding run to the final.
As for Iyer, his captaincy was exemplary. And with the bat, he enjoyed his best-ever IPL season, piling up 604 runs.
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Over the years: flying start, falling apart
In the first season of IPL in 2008, the team led by Yuvraj Singh made it to the semi-finals with key contributions from Shaun Marsh, who was the tournament’s highest run-scorer. The loss to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ended what looked like a dream run.
But the team could not carry the 2008 momentum into next seasons, slowly sliding into a cycle of inconsistency. In the second season, they could not make it to the semi-finals. And, in 2010 and 2011, they failed to make it to the playoffs.
Despite having players like Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Brett Lee, and Yuvraj, they struggled to find balance. On top of that, poor auction decisions and frequent captaincy changes hurt the squad.
These were the years when the Punjab Kings had middling seasons—not bad enough to be last, not good enough to make the playoffs. When other franchises were building strong cores, Punjab became more like a revolving door for talent—they lacked continuity, leadership stability, and clear strategy. In 2013, they finished sixth.
We don't give up! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/jdpef2lnsJ
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) June 4, 2025
Then came 2014.
With new skipper George Bailey, the team played some incredible cricket. They had proven finishers in Glenn Maxwell and David Miller, Virender Sehwag brought experience and flamboyance at the top, while Sandeep Sharma’s nagging line and length troubled batters consistently. This made the squad to click and the team topped the league stage with 11 wins.
They crushed CSK in the qualifier, courtesy Sehwag’s vintage century (122 off 58 balls) at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
In the final, they faced KKR. Punjab achieved a massive score, but a blinder of an innings from Manish Pandey saw KKR home. Punjab had come agonisingly close.
One game away. One title lost. But the 2014 squad gave Punjab fans hope. It was the first time they looked like title contenders.
Buy the hope dissipated the next season. Punjab finished last in the 2015 edition.
The Maxwell-Miller magic couldn’t do the wonders. Coaches were changed. Captains kept rotating — Bailey, Murali Vijay, David Miller, R Ashwin — but nothing clicked.
The squad looked exciting on paper every year, but the execution could never live up to the hype.
In 2020, under the captaincy of KL Rahul, Punjab Kings looked promising once again. They won some thrilling games, most memorably the double super over win against the Mumbai Indians. However, inconsistency and late-season collapses haunted them.
The year 2021 was also a similar story, when they finished sixth in the points table. Rahul was brilliant with the bat, but the team didn’t support him enough. Just like RCB, death bowling remained a chronic problem for Punjab, losing them games from winning positions.
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Fresh identity
Ahead of the 2021 season, when the franchise rebranded itself, it hoped a fresh identity would bring good fortune. However, the stars did not allgn. The playoff continued to elude.
Despite reshuffling the squad every season, the results barely changed. In 2022 and 2023, the team hovered between 6th and 8th position on the table.
In 2024, they showed glimpses of magic—strong performances from Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, and Arshdeep Singh—but the results were still the same.
This season, when the Punjab Kings broke the bank for Iyer at the auction. The fans did not hope much though. But just as Kapil Dev’s 175 not out against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup woke up the dead Indian dressing room, Iyer’s captaincy revitalised the Kings.
With fire in his eyes, fewer words, and an effective strategy in combination with Ponting, Iyer led the team and instilled belief in the young cricketers. The Punjab Kings made it to their first final in 10 years, setting up a blockbuster clash against RCB in the final.
In what was dubbed as the “Battle of the Waiters” as both teams had never won an IPL title, Punjab, once again, faltered under pressure. When they restricted RCB to 190 with an effective bowling attack, it was advantage Punjab, considering their strong batting line-up.
Unfortunately, they continued to lose wickets. Though Shashank Singh’s fireworks did threaten to overhaul the target, he could not go all the way. Another season. Another heartbreak. For the second time in their history, Punjab Kings finished runners-up.
But what will define PBKS going forward is not trophies or fandom, but resilience.
“The job is still half done, and we have to receive the trophy next year,” Iyer said in the post-match interview. Because if there’s one thing the franchise knows — it’s how to hope against hope.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)
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