2 min readUpdated: Mar 22, 2026 02:36 PM IST
Punjab Kings, although they reached the final last season, have been quite inconsistent with their performance over the years. They reached the final in 2014 and went into the semis in 2008. Irfan Pathan, who has played for the franchise, has revealed what errors the franchise has made over the years.
“There was a clear lack of coordination (during) the second year (2009), the IPL moved to South Africa, where we didn’t perform well. The first year (2008), we played the semifinal, so the leadership should have continued, but by the third year, the leadership had changed,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
“In that, there was a big issue between the coaches, what the coaches who don’t come from a cricket background were saying, and what the owners, who don’t have a cricket background, were thinking. This has been the case with Punjab,” he added.
Pathan further went on to slam the lack of coordination the owners have had in the initial years.
“I feel that, initially, the owners seemed like good owners. If you talk about one-on-one interactions, they were very good there. But internally, what was visible from the start was a lack of coordination, which greatly impacted decision-making.
“For example, if one owner says, ‘We need to field this specific team because we want results,’ and another owner says, ‘We want to play a specific combination,’ and if things don’t work out on the field, it creates a huge difference. I think, initially, that was the issue,” he added.
However, Pathan also acknowledged that things might have improved of late. “Looking at the current situation, it seems things have changed a lot; they have tried to provide much more stability. But if you have changed twelve captains over so many years, it means the stability that should be there in leadership hasn’t been visible. And when there isn’t stability in leadership, players won’t feel secure. And if players aren’t secure, they won’t be able to perform in such a difficult league where the competition is always high. Until a few years ago, this was definitely an issue with Punjab,” Pathan elaborated.
