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It was a forgettable home game for Punjab Kings (PBKS). They made it to their first-ever playoffs in 11 years but were humbled by a rampaging Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) bowling lineup. The Shreyas Iyer-led side was bowled out for 101. Iyer contributed to the collapse by playing an aggressive shot which did not go down well with former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Tom Moody. The former Australian pacer has advised Iyer to put his ego 'inside his pocket'.
“At times, you need to put your ego in your pocket and just move forward. To me that was the perfect example of not reading the situation – trying to overcome something that has been a darkness in the past instead of just swallowing your pride and just moving on by just accumulating,” said Moody on ESPNCricinfo ‘Timeout’.
“You only had to see Hazlewood out. It was a simple thing – see him out and look to dissect the rest of their attack,” he added.
This was the fourth time Hazlewood had got the better of Iyer. In six innings, Iyer has managed to score just 11 runs from 22 balls against Hazlewood in T20s. He has had poor outings in Mullanpur, scoring 27 runs from five games. Also, he has scored just 15 runs from three games against RCB.
Moody feels Iyer misread situation
Moody said that Iyer completely misread the game and was half-heartedly playing his shots.
“The first ball he played and missed – the perfect line that you’d expect Hazlewood to bowl. He sort of played at it, but didn’t really want to play at it. And then, that third ball he got out,” said Moody.
“To me, he totally misread the game situation and his own situation. Yes, he would be aware that Hazlewood has had him a few times in the past. He would know the exact numbers,” the 59-year-old.
Good news for Iyer
PBKS will now face the winner of IPL 2025 eliminator between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Titans (GT). Their Qualifier 2 clash is at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, which is good news for Iyer. In their campaign opener, he scored an unbeaten 42-ball 97 at the venue.
Despite a poor record at home, Iyer is PBKS' second-highest run-scorer. He has scored 516 runs from 15 innings at an average of 46.91, including five fifties. His strike rate is 170.86.
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