3 days ago
Shreyas Iyer sent stern message ahead of Punjab Kings' Qualifier 2 match: ‘Swallow your pride and move on'
Shreyas Iyer led Punjab Kings had a dream season this year as they closed the league stages of IPL 2025 with the 1st rank on the Points Table with 19 points to their name. However, the very next match, PBKS had to face a drubbing at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru who not only restricted them to a mere total of 101 runs at their home ground in Mullanpur but also chased the total with exactly 10 overs remaining in the match.
Josh Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma were the main threats for RCB as they dismantled the PBKS batting by taking 3 wickets each. Hazlewood took the priced wicket of Iyer at the start of the batter's innings and after that there was carnage to follow as PBKS batters were forced to come out earlier than expected.
After the match, former Australian cricketer Tom Moody said that Iyer should have kept his ego in check and seen off that spell from Hazlewood, who has been RCB's most threatening bowler this year.
Speaking at ESPNCricinfo's 'Tmeout' show, Moody said, '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,' Moddy added.
Moody also said that Iyer had misread the situation in the game, and that the loss of his wicket was a crucial moment after which the PBKS batting fell apart. Notably, Iyer is the second-highest run-getter for the Punjab Kings this season, behind only opener Prabhsimran Singh.
'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,' Moody noted.
In lieu of qualifying in 1st place in the Points Table, PBKS will have another opportunity to find a way to the final of the tournament as they face off against the Mumbai Indians on 1 June.
