Six games of feast; six games of famine. A last-ditch resurrection bid; prayers mumbled, chewed nails, split hairs and an agonising wait; few teams have suffered emotional extremities as Punjab Kings this season. From the golden favourites to shocking losers, they are both a cautionary tale as well as an example of the league’s vicissitudes.
Much of their fate was self-inflicted. Dropped catches would haunt them; they spilled 16 off 56 opportunities, which is a dramatic rate in a format with threadbare margins. Add missed stumpings, and Punjab would curse their leaden hands and betraying eyes.
Some of them proved costly (like those of Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen in Hyderabad), but even the non-expensive ones generated a negative fatalistic vibe, killed momentum and sowed doubts in fielders. Coach Ricky Ponting, one of the finest all-round fielders of all time, likened it to a virus that spread throughout their camp. Skipper Shreyas Iyer termed it the “biggest setback of the season.”
The culprit was not just one fielder, though Shashank Singh would feel the guiltiest. He let five rather straightforward catches slip through his palms. So did Cooper Connolly and Lockie Ferguson, among others. It was not always technical flaws, which at this level coaches would easily identify and address. It was not always the lighting patterns in a particular stadium, for they dropped catches in different matches. It was not always the wind and the elements. It remained a mystery, or a spooking. Ponting struggled for an answer. “I don’t know why, the boys have worked exceptionally hard.”