In Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Shreyas Iyer’s team, the Punjab Kings (PBKS), played against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Thursday, May 29.
RCB Dominate PBKS in Qualifier 1
Punjab Kings lost the match by 8 wickets at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh. With this win, RCB moved on to Qualifier 2.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) were asked to bat first in the match but had a terrible time. They were bowled out for just 101 runs in 14.1 overs, with Marcus Stoinis scoring the highest – 26 runs. When it was time to defend the small total, PBKS bowlers couldn’t do much, and RCB chased it down easily in just 10 overs.
Shreyas Iyer Reflects on Tough Loss
After the match, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer stayed calm despite the heavy loss. He said the team would learn from the experience rather than forget it. Iyer said:
“Not a day to forget, but got to go back to the drawing board. We lost a lot of wickets (in the first innings.) There’s a lot to go back and study on.”
He also said he still believed in the decisions they made before the match, explaining that the plans were good but just not executed well. He said:
“I am not doubting on my decisions to be honest. Whatever we did in terms of planning, outside of the ground whatever (planning) we did, I think it was on point. Just that we couldn’t execute it on the field.”
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Iyer pointed out that the batters need to perform better so the bowlers have something to defend. He also sent a strong message, saying:
“We have lost the battle, but not the war.”
He added that the bowlers weren’t to blame because they had too little to work with and that the team needs to adjust better to the pitch conditions.
“Can’t even blame the bowlers, as it was a low total to defend. We got to work on our batting especially on this wicket. In all the games we have played here there has been some variable bounce. We can’t give such reasons because we are professionals at the end of the day and we have to bat according to the situation and we have to live up to it. We have lost the battle, but not the war,” he added.
