India, May 25 -- PBKS arrived at the final week of IPL 2026 as a franchise held together by one man's stubbornness. Six consecutive losses had reduced their playoff prospects to arithmetic prayer, and then Shreyas Iyer walked out against LSG and hit 101 off 51 balls - the kind of innings that makes a Rs.26.75 crore price tag look like a discount. Punjab won by seven wickets. The streak snapped. The season breathed again, briefly.

Twenty-four hours later, the Rajasthan Royals beat the Mumbai Indians, claimed the fourth playoff berth, and the brief became permanent. PBKS were out. Their captain had just produced the most commanding performance of his season, and it counted for precisely nothing in the standings.

That gap, between individu...