IPL 2025: Getting outplayed in Qualifier 1 better for Punjab Kings than a narrow defeat

PBKS were never in the game against RCB (BCCI Photo)

Punjab Kings will face the winners of Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 on June 1 to reach the final of IPL 2025. They and Royal Challengers bagged the top two places in the league standings to earn two shots at the final. After getting bowled out for 101 and thrashed by eight wickets in Qualifier 1, PBKS will have to get that out of their system and reboot.

There was nothing vicious on the pitch in Mullanpur, just a hint of bounce. There was no sideways movement or swing. Still, one after another PBKS batter took on the bowlers and perished playing attacking shots, when the situation warranted caution. It’s a formidable batting unit actually, with Shreyas Iyer leading from the front. The RCB match can be a wake-up call for them.

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Had this match gone down to the wire and RCB clinched a narrow win, the impact could have been more crushing on the PBKS team. Fighting hard in a close game and losing in the end is more draining physically and emotionally. That’s because this ‘what could have been’ thought has a tendency to linger. It takes a lot to come back from such a setback, travel to another city and play another big match, with just a couple of days between the games.

Getting outplayed doesn’t come with that additional baggage. PBKS knew they were rubbish on the field on that day, but they are a crack side. Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya did a great job at the top of the order in the league stage. Iyer played a commanding role. The middle-order chipped in. It has been teamwork in bowling as well. They don’t have chart-toppers in either department, but do possess players who make contributions.

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All they have to do now is forget the RCB match. Iyer the captain and the coaching staff led by Ricky Ponting must tell the players are they are not as bad as they looked on one bad day. In a long tournament such as this, every team suffers a day when nothing clicks. PBKS will have to believe that this was one such outing and there is nothing wrong in their system. They won nine of their 14 league matches and the only time they faced GT, PBKS won a high-scoring game in Ahmedabad.

Obviously, PBKS would have liked to beat RCB and make it to the final for the only time after 2014. But if they had to lose and head for Qualifier 2, this is possibly the best scenario under the circumstances. They were never in the game against RCB. That’s better than being in it, fighting until the end and still losing. They must get cricket out of their mind for a while and come back fresher, believing that one odd outing doesn’t define who they are. Not easy, but who said winning the IPL is!