PBKS captain single-handedly powered his team to victory after smashing 87 runs off just 41 balls, including 5 fours and 8 sixes at a blistering strike rate of 212.19.
Despite losing the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Punjab Kings (PBKS) won hearts, especially skipper Shreyas Iyer. The kind of captaincy he did throughout the tournament was amazing. As per a lot of cricket pundits, Iyer has evolved himself both as a batter and a leader. The Punjab-based franchise reached the finals of the IPL 2025 after beating Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
There is a saying that if you are playing in Ahmedabad, every captain looks to bat first. But Iyer, on the contrary, decided to field first even after a lot of team meetings and discussions. Surprise to many, the PBKS captain single-handedly powered his team to victory after smashing 87 runs off just 41 balls, including 5 fours and 8 sixes at a blistering strike rate of 212.19.
Assistant Coach of Punjab Kings recently revealed the chat he had with Iyer ahead of the Qualifier 2. The PBKS skipper went to Brad Haddin and told him that he would bat at the second down and would win the game.
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“You do all the planning for the game. When you play in Ahmedabad, everyone says to bat first. You go through your analytics, you go through planning, matchups have your team stuff, and this is where our captain has not gotten enough credit. I hope when they come down to pick an Indian captain, they should consider Shreyas Iyer. He was outstanding throughout the whole tournament. So he comes up and says, “No, we will bowl first”. It’s up to the captain, he decides what to do or not. Shreyas goes like, I will win the game, I am going to bat second. Everything leads to bowling, everything leads to batting first. We bowl, the captain comes out at the second place to bat and plays one of the best IPL innings that I have ever seen to get us into the final. He looked in total control”, Brad Haddin said.
Talking about the game, Mumbai Indians batted well and scored a competitive total of 203/6 in their 20 overs, kudos to Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav, both scoring 44 runs. In reply, Mumbai bowlers looked clueless against Shreyas Iyer and crumbled. Ashwani Kumar did take 2 crucial wickets but leaked runs at an economy of 13.75.
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