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Cricket has always been a mirror of life—humbling the participants every time they forget the ground. Punjab Kings seem to have been going through the phase. Even though the OG fans are used to it given the ups and downs they faced through the journey, for the new group Punjab assembled last year, it's a hell of a shock!

Punjab Kings, under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, reached the final after 11 years but got belittled by Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In the first half, it seemed like the 2026 IPL would have the same finalist, but then cricket had its own plans.

From winning all six matches in the IPL, Punjab Kings were riding high on confidence. The social media went berserk, doing unnecessary trolling on oppositions. Their social media is notoriously "cringe" and now has become "overconfident." They lost five consecutive matches. But again, losing is different; looking clueless is insane, and Punjab looked clueless. 

Adding to the misery were unverified claims on social media. PBKS, by their attitude, gathered enough "haters," and those claims took seconds to look like truths. PBKS did call it out on their social media. But then came a cover. Before the RCB clash, PBKS sent their physio, Andrew Leipus, who himself claimed to have no clue about the game plan.

It's not that Andrew Leipus faced unwanted questions. But he was definitely the man who could answer those. When asked if toss had an affect on Punjab's result, he answered,

"Yeah, it's probably beyond my scope a little bit... The guys don't talk about it very much. It is what it is."

Notably, PBKS has been losing the toss 6 times, 3 of which turned to defeats. When the journos asked him about the conditions in Dharmashala given the defeats they faced, Leipus's attitude was nothing different.

"Again, beyond my scope. I'm not involved in anything to do with the cricket side of things. I tend to stay in my lane."

Well he did say a word on Arshdeep Singh, who became trending with his "Andhere" remark on Tilak Varma. But that's all.

Read also: Arshdeep Singh Faces Backlash Over Snapchat Post, PBKS Break Silence

Maybe. Maybe not. It is not the first time that core members have avoided press conferences. But sending a physio can be controversial.

But were the big-name journalists' behaviors acceptable? One can question PBKS's attitude of deliberately blocking information from flowing from their side to the journalists. But that does not honestly give any free pass to any "journalist" to spread unverified claims. As far as their jobs are concerned, they write facts, not screenplays for dramas or some fiction!

It's equally intolerable as the behavior from the PBKS side, be it the social media or the arrogance from Arshdeep Singh—relentlessly mimicking the catch drop in front of sleeping Shashank Singh, racially abusing oppositions, and even trolling a fan for his/her background.

Punjab indeed has some brain-fade moments and absolutely clueless decisions. The team looks inevitably in a fuss. But making up stories buries the core of journalism unless it's all for popularity and exposure.