Bigger the event, calmer he turns into is how Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer described his unimaginable 41-ball-87 that knocked out five-time champions Mumbai Indians within the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on Sunday (June 1, 2025).
Iyer, who led KKR to IPL title final 12 months, performed one of many best knocks below strain in a excessive stakes knock-out sport to chase down a goal of 204 in simply 19 overs.
Asked about his secret recipe, Iyer replied: “I don’t know to be honest, I love such big occasions. I always say to myself and to my colleagues in the team that the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are, you get the big results,” Iyer stated through the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Today was a right example where I was focusing more on my breathing rather than sweating out there,” he added. He was completely happy that each participant confirmed intent.
“All players need to be assertive and show that intent from ball one. The intent was stupendous and even for me, I had to take some time.
“From the opposite finish, the batsmen have been putting fairly effectively. I know the extra time I spend on the sector, the higher I get and my imaginative and prescient additionally will get higher.”
Shreyas took his time in middle and we knew that was a danger: Mahela Jayawardene
Even MI skipper Hardik Pandya agreed that Iyer took the game away from them.
“The method Shreyas batted, took his probabilities and among the photographs he performed have been actually excellent and I suppose they undoubtedly batted rather well.” Pandya did admit that execution on part of MI bowlers was off the mark.
“I suppose it was par, however it wanted some nice execution as a bowling unit which I suppose in these big video games it actually issues and as I talked about they have been actually calm, put us below strain and I suppose we weren’t ready to execute the best way we wished.
“I will not put it on the wicket, if we had to something better it was maybe someone bowling right lengths or maybe right bowler at the right point, the result could have been a bit different.” It was one such day when Jasprit Bumrah did not click on, going for 40 runs in his 4 overs.
“Boom knowing the situation if even 18 balls are left, Jassi can be Jassi. And he can do something special and it just didn’t happen today,” stated Hardik.
Mumbai Indians knew Shreyas Iyer giving himself time within the center to bat lengthy was an indication of “danger”, stated head coach Mahela Jayawardene
Mumbai Indians’ captain Hardik Pandya through the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Qualifier 2 cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings, on the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, on June 1, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
“He took his time. He knew they would a bit under pressure, so he was taking his time. We knew that was a danger,” Jayawardene instructed the media after the after wicket loss on Sunday night time.
“As long as we didn’t give him that partnership with Nehal (Wadhera), we would have been able to squeeze through because he would have had to go (out to attack) early, not wait that long.” “He got Nehal to do the bulk of the work at that point, so that shows the experience, and he knew he had to take the game deep and he did. We were trying those options with the wickets, but it just didn’t work for us today,” Jayawardene added.
A former Mumbai Indians participant, Wadhera (48 off 29 balls) consolidated for Punjab Kings with a strong 84-run stand for the fourth wicket to flip the tables with Iyer on the helm, whereas additionally taking advantage of two lifelines he received in type of dropped catches.
Jayawardene stated MI had a great marketing campaign after a poor begin to this season. “It was a good campaign for us, the way we started, and how we regrouped as a team and had played some really, really good cricket,” he stated.
“We had our opportunities getting to the playoffs and we had a really good game first up (Eliminator) and even today I thought we played some good cricket, except for Kings playing better cricket than us, especially with the bat.” Jayawardene heaped praise on their batting mainstay Suryakumar Yadav who showed remarkable consistency throughout the tournament to finish with 717 runs. His tally marked the first time any MI batter scored 700 of more runs in an IPL season.
“Sky has been brilliant, very consistent,” Jayawardene stated.
“Reading the game, especially in those situations. He was very, very good in many different conditions as well, that’s where quality of the player stands out.” “For him to be that consistent in playing in different surfaces, different bowling attacks, shows what a quality T20 batsman he is, especially a lot of the times it took the spinners down pretty well and that role was pretty crucial for us,” he added.
The head coach’s assessed that MI didn’t get as many runs as they might in all probability have gotten which was additionally among the many causes for his or her defeat.
“We probably left a bit of runs on the park as well with the bat. We lost our way after having that start. It was (losing) back to back wickets probably (which) slowed us down a little bit,” he stated.
“But I thought 200 was still a good score in a qualifier… the pressure. We picked up those wickets as well up front and a few mistakes cost us the game and the bowling also, the execution wasn’t up to the standards as well,” he added.
Published – June 02, 2025 11:00 am IST
