Punjab Kings travelled to its second home base in Dharamshala with great expectations. Having defeated Chennai Super Kings in its den and bringing its campaign back on track, the Sam Curran-led side hoped to build on the momentum.
But a 28-run defeat in the reverse fixture at the HPCA Stadium on Sunday means Punjab Kings no longer has its fate in its own hands. Though on paper, it can still qualify for the last-four stage, in all practicality, it needs a miracle and lots of luck.
While injury issues — including that of captain Shikhar Dhawan — proved detrimental to the team’s progress, the fact that it lost five of its six home games so far is also one of the major reasons behind the debacle.
Moving on from the PCA Stadium in Mohali, the Punjab Kings played its five matches in Mullanpur this season and lost on four occasions. And it’s campaign in Dharamshala, too, began on a disappointing note, even though the side hopes to bounce back in its last home match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday.
“It’s disappointing on a number of levels,” Brad Haddin, Punjab Kings’ assistant coach, told The Hindu. “It was a new home ground and the crowd was outstanding, but it was also a learning experience in terms of what the wicket did. As we look back, we lost three games in the last couple of balls, and it was disappointing to lose because you bank on your home ground to make it a fortress…”
Before moving to Mullanpur, Punjab Kings featured in 61 home fixtures at the PCA Stadium since 2008, of which it won 31 games. However, it’s track record in Dharamshala is poor as it lost seven of its 12 games since 2010.
Why did the team fail to take home advantage?
“We just probably did not react fast to the situations in the match,” Haddin said, adding: “T20 games are won on winning big moments, but identifying those moments are also important and we probably didn’t do that…”
