IPL Pulse: Slow pitch and sore wrist

Good morning,

Host teams continue to dominate in IPL 2026. Nothing quite like working from home, as few of you would know so well. Here's today's edition of Pulse, your 2-minute morning scan of the IPL universe that must take immediate priority over that scheduled dog walk, unscheduled doomscrolling and a bit of coding that you're expected to log in a lot of tokens for.

Last night in five lines

1. Ricky Ponting called the pitch "slow" again (what's with him and home venues?), but Punjab Kings still found a way to win their first match of IPL 2026.

2. Cooper Connolly, just 22, smashed 72* off 44 and even apologised after drilling one straight back at his captain.

3. Gujarat Titans, put in to bat, managed only 34 in the last five overs, and you know 162/6 was never going to be enough (although it almost proved to be).

4. Vyshak and Chahal shared five wickets between them, three coming in the final five overs to stall any late surge.

5. Prasidh Krishna, the Impact Player, was only introduced in the 12th over but returned 3/29 and briefly kept GT alive.

Oh, that happened

Shreyas Iyer stood at the non-striker's end when a flat bullet from Connolly struck his wrist. He was in immediate pain and the cameras quickly cut to Ponting in the dugout trying very hard to look calm. We all know what he was thinking.

Iyer's update later on his injury could have been an answer for most things in life: "All I can say, it's nice. It's the same as it was before. I don't want to jinx anything. I just want to stay positive and hopefully everything comes out right."

Pulse awards

The what-are-they-eating award goes to PBKS, who hit 14 sixes compared to GT's 3.

The old-habits-die-hard award goes to PBKS again for still managing to take the run-chase to the last over.

The deja-vu award goes to Rashid Khan, who looked sharper than last season but still watched Connolly deposit one into the third tier.

The can't-decide award goes to the venue-naming committee. Is it Mullanpur or New Chandigarh? Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium or New PCA Stadium? Pick a lane, please.

The never-off-duty award goes to all the physios, who have been busy patching up bodies within the first week.

The trends-that-are-trying-too-hard award goes to home teams, who have won all four matches of the season chasing.

Talking point

Last night was all about how well Cooper Connolly played off the backfoot. It came at a venue where playing off the backfoot hasn't been easy. In fact, it cost PBKS last season, when they 32 wickets to hard lengths. Connolly, picked up at this auction, came in with a readymade technique. He faced 13 balls from seamers off the back foot, scoring 25 runs at a strike rate of 192.31. The rest managed 71 runs off 54 such deliveries at 131.48, losing four wickets

Who's saying what

Shubman Gill pointed to the last five overs as the difference. GT, he said, never quite got going and felt it wasn't a "210-220 wicket" anyway. He also had praise for debutant Ashok Sharma, who made his debut, looked quick and wasn't shy of bowling bouncers to Shreyas Iyer, who admitted he was "actually" surprised to spot a short leg for him and even went and told Shubman that it was "something that I've never experienced before, but it's good. It's good to see captains becoming aggressive."

Stat Snack

Punjab Kings have now won their season opener for the sixth consecutive year, dating back to 2021.

What's the latest gossip?

PBKS fans, the birdies suggest, are readying a Change.org petition to hand Marco Jansen the new ball. It was Arshdeep and Bartlett who started proceedings and you just know how that went. Jansen came on, struck in his very first over and quietly made his case (he didn't need to) without saying a word.

Tonight's watchlist

LSG host DC in lucknow. The key battle? LSG batters vs DC spinners. LSG were the most destructive side against spin last season while DC, led by Kuldeep and Axar, were among the most economical. Something has to give.

Reckless prediction for tonight's match

Delhi Capitals will drop catches. They've been the worst catching side across the last two IPL seasons, with 47 drops, nearly two a game. Some habits travel well...