Shreyas Iyer started his stint as Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain in the fifth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season on Tuesday. The 30-year-old led his side in their opening match of the season versus Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. Iyer, came into bat in the fourth over and began his innings with a four against Kagiso Rabada. On the fifth ball of the same over, the right-handed batter played a sumptuous flick shot for six.
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Rabada strayed onto Iyer’s pads, who used his wrists to flick the ball straight to the deep square leg region for a six. The shot was so classy that young batter Sai Sudharsan was caught by the camera in complete awe. Iyer had ended his first ball in the crease by scoring 14 runs.
Priyansh Arya, who is making his IPL debut for PBKS, scored 47 runs from just 23 balls. The left-handed batter showed why he is rated highly in the domestic circuit as he hit seven sweetly timed fours and two huge sixes. The batter was finally out when he was caught by Sai Sudharsan off Rashid Khan.
Huge challenge awaits Shreyas Iyer in IPL 2025
30-year-old Shreyas Iyer was let go by the Kolkata Knight Riders despite winning the title last season. Punjab Kings spent INR 26.75 crores to make Iyer the costliest player in the league, which was eventually overtaken by Rishabh Pant, who was purchased for INR 27 crores by Lucknow Super Giants. Iyer will be keen to end PBKS' trophy drought and continue his captaincy purple patch.
Shreyas Iyer lost the toss and his team was put into bat and during his chat with Ravi Shastri at the toss, Iyer said, “I would have loved to bowl. I am always someone who loves a chase. Take the challenge. There are so many familiar faces around. There is Ricky. You need unity and synergy in the team. We have got a lot of all-rounders in the team. We are spoilt for choices.”
Punjab Kings finished in the ninth spot last season with just five wins from their 14 games. This season, PBKS have made huge purchases and also got back Arshdeep Singh, who was retained via the right-to-match card. Yuzvendra Chahal is another player who is making his debut for PBKS after spending a few seasons with the Rajasthan Royals. Chahal is the only man in IPL history to pick over 200 wickets.
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