AHMEDABAD: Shreyas Iyer nonchalantly sent Ashwani Kumar into the stands, removed his helmet, hugged Marcus Stoinis before slowly walking towards a gutted Hardik Pandya on his knees. Shreyas had led Punjab Kings to the final of 2025 Indian Premier League. They beat Mumbai Indians to set up a summit clash with Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday.
In a game of cat and mouse that lasted 39 overs, Punjab prevailed in the end to make it to the summit clash only for the second time in 18 years. Playing a cat and mouse game and taking the chase deep seldom works against Mumbai. They have arguably the greatest T20 bowler in Jasprit Bumrah. Against any other opponent, ten runs per over in the death, in this day and age, is the norm. Not with Mumbai, not against Bumrah.
But this is where Punjab stood out. They took the attack to Mumbai's and IPL's premier pacer. Josh Inglis welcomed Bumrah with a 20-run over in the powerplay just when it seemed like PBKS were falling behind. He flicked, lofted him downtown and flicked again as Bumrah conceded 20 runs in an over (T20 format) for the first time since 2021. It was the over that took Punjab from 35/1 to 55/1. When they finished the powerplay with 64/2, it seemed like they were back on track.
However, on a pitch that had slowed down thanks to the two and a half hour rain delay after the toss, Hardik Pandya and Mitchell Santner hit the brakes. Pandya used the cutters and slow bouncers while Santner did not bowl a single bad delivery. Inglis fell to a bouncer from Pandya, Ashwani Kumar, and Bumrah backed them up, and Mumbai gave away just 45 runs in the six overs after the powerplay. In a chase where the required run rate was more than ten, it was significant.
Shreyas, however, was not perturbed. After 12 overs, Punjab needed 95 runs in eight overs. Reece Topley came in, and Shreyas stepped up. He hit three sixes in the over, and all of a sudden, Punjab were back. Nehal Wadhera did his part, hitting two boundaries off Trent Boult. Such was the onslaught that Pandya was forced to bring back Bumrah, and Punjab played him out safely. Wadhera welcomed Ashwani with a six before getting out to him in the same over.
Shreyas, however, was not done. He finished the over with another six, bringing down the equation to 41 off 24 balls. It was still ten runs per over, but Bumrah had just one left. It allowed Shreyas to squeeze out two yorkers off Boult to the ropes. He went on to do the same against Bumrah in the very next over. To him, it did not matter that he had gotten to his fifty. He had one mission — getting Punjab into the final.
In many ways, it was inevitable when Bumrah was done. Shreyas hit Ashwani for a six and then sent another over long off when he got a free hit. It did not matter that they had let go off the momentum in the death overs, it did not matter that Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma set the tone despite the lack of pace from Punjab bowlers before Naman Dhir took them to 203/6.
The one thing that mattered at the end of the night was the last man standing. And there he was, out in the middle, having the final say: Sarpanch Shreyas. The man on a mission; the man who never flinched.
