Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer did not panic and remained calm as he overcame Mumbai Indians' (MI) bowling lineup and helped his team qualify for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final. Iyer was not expressive while celebrating the win at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. But, he did not hold back his emotions as he met Shashank Singh during customary handshake. Iyer did not seem pleased with the way Shashank got run out and did not shake his hand.
In the 17th over, Shashank played the ball towards mid-on where MI captain Hardik Pandya was. Shashank was jogging instead of rushing to make his ground. Pandya came up with a direct hit and till the time Shashank realised it, he could not make his ground. He threw his wicket away which frustrated Iyer. The PBKS captain did not react until he met Shashank after the match. The video of the incident has went viral on social media.
After Shashank's wicket, Iyer ended Trent Boult's spell with a boundary as he managed to negotiate the yorker length delivery outside off stump. In Jasprit Bumrah's over, he did not just keep out his yorker and found a boundary as well. After Bumrah's spell came to an end, young left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar was handed the ball. PBKS needed 23 runs off 12 balls. Iyer went berserk against Ashwani hitting him for four sixes to finish off the run chase.
Iyer's colossal feat and conversations with uncapped players
Iyer became the first captain to lead three different franchises to the IPL final. No other captain has done it for more than one franchise. After the win, Iyer was asked about his conversations with uncapped players.
"I just let them be, I don't ask too much of them, I love the fearless nature that we bring to the table and also the ideas that they share. They would be having a fair set of ideas about how to play that situation. Even though they haven't got that much of experience, they've got the brave nature and on such big occasions, it's important that they gain more experience," Iyer said in the post-match presentation.
Iyer's PBKS will now go up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the same venue on June 3 in the IPL 2025 final. In the ongoing season, Iyer is yet to be dismissed in Ahmedabad. He has played match-winning knocks on both occassions.