Ahmedabad: Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer (87 off 41b; 5x4, 6x8) is a driven man this season. Both his intensity and batting have been in a different zone. Mistakes that used to cut short his innings appear to be a thing of the past.
Batting with an open stance, Iyer has added a new dimension to his game, allowing himself to settle in before accelerating. On Sunday night against Mumbai Indians, what was amazing to watch was his zen-like demeanour as he took the game deep, with Punjab chasing a steep 204. He allowed partners batting with him to do the bulk of the scoring before putting the pedal on the accelerator and finishing the game with ease.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Even when Iyer’s shot selection in the first qualifier against RCB was questioned, he didn’t entertain any doubts about his capabilities. Against MI, his act of not celebrating either his half-century or erupting in jubilation after taking his team over the line conveyed a sense of purpose. Iyer has unfinished business and his keen competitive instincts and astute captaincy, apart from his batting, will be crucial for Punjab in the final.
The PBKS skipper has had an impressive campaign, both as captain and batter
Shreyas Iyer has the second-highest score by a skipper IPL playoffs history
Iyer played some extraordinary shots during his 87 not out (41 balls; 5x4, 8x6) against MI. Having arrived at the crease at the fall of opener Priyansh Arya’s wicket, with the team still needing 149 runs, he began with an aerial flick over square leg off left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar.
His ramp to a slower bouncer off Hardik Pandya in the 10th over was a demonstration of his presence of mind. The shot of the match came in the 18th over when he steered an on-point Jasprit Bumrah yorker nonchalantly through third man. It brought an end to Bumrah’s uncharacteristically wicketless spell (0/40) as MI’s hopes vanished.
Through it all, Iyer remained composed, and only a mini-confrontation with Shashank Singh at the end of the game conveyed his displeasure with the manner of his teammate’s run-out dismissal. “Shreyas is calm. He doesn’t get flustered easily. He knows his matchups, knows what he has to do at certain times and he’s prepared to take that risk. When he was a younger player in Delhi, he was a little bit more explosive and gung-ho. He scores at a high strike rate now also because he knows when a bowler comes on and that’s his matchup, he’s going to take it,” Punjab’s bowling coach James Hopes said.
Who's that IPL player? Lavishing praise on his leadership skills, Hopes said, “With his captaincy tonight, we kept MI to 200 when I reckon they could have got 220, 230, just because of the way he pulled the strings out there and manoeuvred the bowling. We had Vyshak with one over left, but he took a gut call to give Azmatulah Omarzai an over and it worked. He’s a sensational captain and a player.”
On his knock, Iyer told the official broadcaster, “I love such big occasions and I always say to myself and my colleagues that the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are and you’ll get the best results. Today I was focusing a lot on my breathing rather than sweating a lot out there.” Asked how they recovered from the eight-wicket loss to RCB, he said, “Just throw the hiccup in the bin and not think too much. One match cannot define us as a team.”
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