Punjab Kings' fast bowling coach James Hopes said it was “frustrating” to stand near elimination from the IPL 2026 playoffs race after the Shreyas Iyer-led side crashed to their sixth defeat on the bounce on Sunday.

In the latest debacle, Royal Challengers Bengaluru outclassed PBKS by 23 runs, as the reigning champions became the first team to enter the knockouts. “Frustrating, to be honest. We are staring it in the face now. There's still hope, but we need to turn it around.

We need to tidy up some areas. I felt, with the ball, we didn't create enough opportunities early,” Hopes said in the post-match press conference.“We controlled the power play pretty well, but every time we'd get back the momentum, they'd be getting a big over and get back on top.

And then in the chase, we sort of got going, but then, yeah, just petered out. We lost too many wickets early,” he added.However, Hopes dismissed any suggestions that Punjab Kings' drastic dip had anything to do with off-field controversies.

"I don't think any off-field stuff derailed our campaign. What derailed our campaign was our inability to take control of momentum in games. Every time it looked like we were about to do it, we'd do something to hurt ourselves or trip ourselves up," he said.

Punjab's pace spearhead Arshdeep Singh produced yet another lukewarm outing, and this time he ended up with figures of 4-0-43-1.

But Hopes defended the left-arm pacer. “I think, to be honest, Arshdeep bowled well in the back half of the tournament, like, very well. He's been aggressive. There's been players and misses.

Source:Ndtv