One of the longest evenings of Shreyas Iyer's career would have been three nights ago in Mullanpur. The Punjab Kings captain suffered one of the season's most crushing defeats, even though he guided his squad to the top of the IPL 2025 points standings. In Qualifier 1, PBKS was utterly destroyed by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. PBKS's top order was so destroyed that, at one point, reaching 100 seemed to be an impossible feat. By that point, the game's outcome was already a foregone conclusion, even if they somehow managed to break through the barrier. They were defeated by eight wickets by RCB, who secured a spot in the championship game.

The Mumbai Indians, in contrast, were creating their own redemption narrative, and if any team might have truly hit PBKS in the gut, it was them after RCB. However, on the night that counted, Punjab Kings, particularly Shreyas Iyer, were able to counter all that MI threw at them, including the rain, Mumbai's impressive 200-plus totals in the Playoffs, the consistency of Suryakumar Yadav, and, of course, the ever-so-dangerous Jasprit Bumrah, who could break through into the final. Without a doubt, the IPL 2025 will have a fresh winner, and in reality, no two teams are more deserving of it than the two OGs from the group of eight teams that were established 18 years ago, the RCB and the Punjab Kings.

As he showed incredible maturity and played perhaps the innings of this season, Shreyas was the epitome of serenity and composure. Shreyas, who at one time had 19 off 15, chased down over 200 in a knockout match and ended up not out with 87 runs, including eight sixes, to give himself and the Punjab Kings another opportunity to face RCB in the championship match tomorrow.

"The bigger the occasion, the calmer you are, and you'll get the best results," I always tell myself and my coworkers. I adore such grand events. When I went out there, I had to take some time, but the batter at the other end was hitting quite well, so I was concentrating more on my breathing today than on sweating out a lot out there," Iyer stated after the game. I understand that spending more time on the field improves my performance and my vision as well.

Iyer's mild caution

"We lost the battle but not the war," Iyer said following the defeat to RCB. The Punjab Kings indirectly cautioned RCB in their comments for their opponents, suggesting that the matchup may be nothing less than one. The fact that PBKS has lost to RCB twice this season indicates that they have a grudge against them. Iyer didn't hold back in his remarks about whether the loss has any potential effect.

Don't dwell too much on where we went wrong; instead, throw the imagination and hiccup in the bin because we have been playing some amazing throughout the season and the intent and positivity were essential from the first game, and one match cannot define us as a team.

Shreyas Iyer acknowledges that he was imprisoned.

The fact that Iyer remained so calm and unruffled during the assault was one of his most remarkable traits. Whether it was a dot ball or a six, his demeanor remained the same. And it stayed that way until the presentation ceremony. Iyer's confession that he was 'locked in,' even after suffering the defeat three nights earlier, said it all. He seemed confused today, but it seems that the seeds were actually planted in New Chandigarh the previous night. "Yes, I was trapped," he said.

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