Punjab Kings faced a massive defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first qualifier game of the Indian Premier League 2025 on Thursday. Batting first, they were restricted to just 101 runs, which RCB chased down without breaking a sweat.
None of their batters was able to make much of an impact. Captain Shreyas Iyer, who has been in tremendous form throughout the season, could not do much either. He fell to Josh Hazlewood, who has gotten the better of him in the recent few outings, while attempting a rash shot.
Former PBKS coach Tom Moody has now raised concerns over Shreyas' game awareness and his strategy against Hazlewood. Moody believes Shreyas will be aware of his numbers against Hazlewood, which is why he tried to play a rash shot.
“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. 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,” said Moody in an interaction with ESPNcricinfo.
You need to put your ego in your pocket: Tom Moody
The former Australian all-rounder believes that Shreyas should have "kept his ego in his pocket" against Hazlewood and tried to see him through. Iyer has an average of 2.75 in 22 balls he has faced off Hazlewood in T20s, having lost his wickets four times and scoring only 11 runs.
“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. You only had to see Hazlewood out. It was a simple thing – see him out and look to dissect the rest of their attack,” Moody added.
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