Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer suffered a blow to his right hand as he was hit by a shot by teammate Cooper Connolly on the non-striker end. After PBKS’ nervy win over Gujarat Titans (GT) at home in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign opener, Iyer gave an update on his injury. He doesn’t want to ‘jinx anything’ and is hoping for the best.
“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,” Iyer said in the post-match presentation.
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Iyer lauds Connolly
After Iyer departed, Cooper Connolly continued to anchor the run chase. He remained unbeaten on a 44-ball 72 as PBKS won with five balls to spare. Iyer lauded the Australian recruit who scored a match-winning fifty on his IPL debut, especially for the way he counter Rashid Khan.
“Some of the shots that he played, it was surreal to watch. It was unbelievable. The back foot six off Rashid, one of the best bowlers in the IPL, to hit him so clearly and neatly, it was simply phenomenal,” he said.
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Iyer on PBKS’ collapse in run chase
While Connolly stood out, PBKS had a scare after Iyer departed. From 110/2, PBKS found themselves 118/6 in the 15th over. But, Marco Jansen prevented a collapse and Xavier Bartlett made useful contribution preventing it from getting worse. The skipper revealed that he was more focused on icing the affected part when the collapse happened. He did not read much into it and revealed the message to Connolly.
“Honestly speaking, I was focused on my hand inside, icing it and then suddenly we lost two wickets back-to-back. These things happen in the IPL and you have to remain calm and composed in such situations,” he said.
“So the message was pretty simple. Just take the game to the end and Cooper was there. He was pretty much set. And he's got a great awareness as a player. I've seen him in the past as well, playing for Australia. He's got a great mindset and hopefully he continues with the same form,” he added.
PBKS’ next clash
A further update on Iyer's injury will be given in the next few days. PBKS will now travel to Chennai and face Ruturaj Gaikwad's Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on April 3.