New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) Aaron Finch, Australia’s 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup winning captain, has said that Punjab Kings (PBKS) still being unbeaten in IPL 2026 despite Arshdeep Singh not picking power play wickets, is actually an encouraging sign for Punjab Kings, adding that if the team’s primary strike weapon is yet to fire and they are still comfortably winning matches, it only adds to their confidence.

PBKS are the lone unbeaten side in IPL 2026 and will aim to extend their winning run when they take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday evening. Arshdeep took two wickets in PBKS beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh last week, but his struggles with the new ball have been quite evident.

So far, he’s conceded 33 runs in the powerplay and is yet to take a wicket in the six-over phase this season. Moreover, Arshdeep is yet to take a wicket in the powerplay in his last 10 IPL innings in IPL. His battle against MI’s openers minus Rohit Sharma will be an interesting battle to watch.

“I guess that’s very similar to Arshdeep as well. Yes, he hasn’t got the power play wickets. To me, that’s a good sign for the Kings because if Arshdeep isn’t getting power play wickets and they’re still winning games comfortably and probably being the benchmark in this tournament, then that’s a really good sign,” said Finch, an ESPNcricinfo Expert, to IANS in a virtual interaction during TATA IPL 2026 Rivalry Week.

Finch also pointed out that Arshdeep has apparently moved away from the inswinger that made him so dangerous in his early IPL years. “Part of the reason why I think that hasn’t been is he’s probably just lost his ability to bowl the inswinger to the right handers as much as what he used to. When you think of when he was a bit younger and he first burst onto the scene, he was a big swinger of the ball both ways.

“So that then brings in lbw and bowled dismissals and keeps the batters guessing because it’s not just swinging one way. I feel at the moment he’s probably going more to his outswinger to right handers. To me, that’s a bit more of a defensive mindset that he’s going with.

“Maybe it’s a technical thing or it’s something that they’ve talked about as a bowling group. So you would have to ask the specifics. But I think it’s a good sign if they’re still winning games and your number one trump card still hasn’t fired inside the power play – that would give me a huge amount of confidence as a captain,” he said.

Turning to PBKS in-form batting line-up, Finch was mighty impressed in the side picking from where they left off last year. PBKS openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya have registered two fifty-plus opening stands in 3 matches this season. Their aggressive starts has been a major driving force behind PBKS batting success since the last season.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer has dominated the middle overs and maintained a high scoring rate, which was evident in him hitting an unbeaten 69 off 33 balls against SRH. “They’ve got a really high quality batting lineup. They’ve all got really specific roles, which to me is really important in T20 cricket.

“When you pick a squad and you pick players, you want them to play in the roles that they’re most comfortable playing. Yes, you have to just change that around slightly every now and then, but you don’t want too many top order players having to bat in the middle order. So they’ve been really specific.

“Prabhsimran and Priyansh at the top of the order, they’ve been brilliant. Their ability to put teams under so much pressure first up is impressive. It’s the youngsters around the competition that are doing that more and more at the moment. Their ability to strike from ball one and almost really disrupt plans of opposition bowling attacks and captains,” he said.

Finch also remarked that PBKS aggressive approach at the top was not simply a product of individual talent but of the environment created by the team’s leadership – led by Iyer and head coach Ricky Ponting. “It’s great to see that they always take the initiative and I think Shreyas and Ricky Ponting obviously would be a big part of that because it’s not just about having the players to do it.

“It’s also giving them the freedom to be able to go out and execute like that. T20 is such a high swing game. There’s days when you feel good and things might go your way. At the same time, there’s other days when you miss out or a couple of games in a row. That’s just the nature of playing such a high risk game. So to have the support and the clear messaging from the top is so important in that regard,” he concluded.

–IANS

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