IPL franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) have now issued a tell-all statement against all the allegations that have caused controversy with the team in IPL 2026.
Apart from all the off-field rumours, PBKS have also had to contend with declining on-field performances. After going unbeaten in the first half of the tournament, the team has now lost four matches in a row to slip down to fourth on the points table.
The allegations and rumours
Following PBKS' on-field slump, social media got to work and reported several infractions on their part about their poor lifestyle choices and discipline issues.
Some of the things reported included the fact that some of the players were allegedly skipping morning practice, having spent the night "playing games". This was also reportedly causing some players to miss their flights.
One scathing allegation was particularly made about batter Prabhsimran Singh. It was alleged that Prabhsimran had gained around 10 kgs during the tournament, but he seemed to shut those rumours down.
Also Read: Prabhsimran Singh breaks silence on 10-kg weight gain allegations amid IPL 2026
In another incident, a viral video seemed to claim that fast bowler Arshdeep Singh and captain Shreyas Iyer had gotten into a verbal fight at the airport.
Arshdeep got into a second controversy when another video appeared to show him with his rumoured girlfriend, Samreen Kaur, in the team bus despite the BCCI's diktat against doing so.
Also Read: Arshdeep Singh ignores BCCI's order, seen with Samreen Kaur in team bus amid IPL 2026
On their X account, PBKS themselves had put out a post warning people in the media not to engage in peddling fake news and misinformation.
Also Read: Punjab Kings and Preity Zinta crack down on viral rumours, warn of serious action
PBKS coach clears the air
Punjab Kings' assistant bowling coach, Trevor Gonsalves, cleared the air on all of the allegations during the press conference on the eve of Punjab's match against the Mumbai Indians on Thursday.
He was asked about how the team management was trying to protect the players from the allegations and the criticism surrounding them.
“I’ll be very frank with you. I expected this question coming up. There’s no doubt about it. Yes, today social media plays a big role. The news plays a big role. How the big players handle themselves against all these things is absolutely important,” Gonsalves said.
“You don’t need anyone to teach them. First of all, they are big enough. They know how to control themselves. And yes, as far as we are concerned, we are more concerned about the cricketing part,” he added.
Gonsalves went on to say that anybody could write anything on the internet, and their job was to play cricket rather than pay attention to it.
“You know, any blogger or any person can go and put up anything on the social media. And there are lakhs of people agreeing to it and saying yes or no. But frankly speaking, we are not too concerned about what the social media says,” Gonsalves said.
“Now, at present, we are only concerned and worried about tomorrow’s game, of how we are moving forward in the cricketing part,” he added.
PBKS' next match
PBKS will take on the Mumbai Indians in their next match in IPL 2026. The match will be held on Thursday at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.
Punjab Kings will be trying to recover from their mid-season fall and break the four-match losing streak. The Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, are eliminated from the tournament. Their only hope now is to be able to play party-poopers and sink Punjab further.
