IPL 2022: PBKS Season Review

The Punjab Kings failed to make the playoffs for an eight successive season as they finished at the sixth position in the points table with seven wins and as many losses in IPL 2022.
Even tough PBKS had a lot of firepower in their arsenal after some new signings at the mega auction in February this year, they showcased inconsistent performances especially in the second half, which halted their progress in the tournament.

The Kings only had retained the likes of opener Mayank Agarwal and yorker specialist Arshdeep Singh ahead of the ongoing season and come the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru, they made some smart buys in the form of Shikhar Dhawan, Kagisio Rabada, and the sensational English cricketing duo of Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone, alongside Srii Lankan wicketkeeper-batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa.

Mayank Agarwal was handed over the captaincy duties after KL Rahul parted ways with the franchise for better prospects. Thus, with a promising team on paper, PBKS were expected to do well this time around. In fact, they started on a promising note with a five-wicket win over RCB in a high-scoring encounter. Even though the start looked promising, some inconsistency started showing up as well.

The win was followed by a six-wicket loss to KKR and then an emphatic 54-run victory over CSK. Another loss and win followed against GT and MI before Agarwal & Co. suffered back-to-back setbacks against SRH and DC respectively. The victories were only sporadic from thereon and the defeats on the other hand did not help their cause in any manner. However, their hopes were restored after a huge 54-run win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the reverse fixture and all they had to do from that point was to ensure they did not suffer any further hiccups in the final week of the league stage.

Unfortunately for the Punjab-based franchise, that was not to be as they went down to northern rivals Delhi Capitals by 17 runs in their second-last fixture. The loss proved to be fatal for them as RCB’s emphatic eight-wicket victory in their last league game against the table-toppers Gujarat Titans dashed Punjab as well as SRH’s playoff hopes.
Thus, with only pride to play for, the final league encounter of the IPL 2022 between PBKS and Sunrisers Hyderabad turned out to be an inconsequential clash and Punjab came out on top by five wickets to sign off on a high.