Shreyas Iyer seems to be gradually confirming a spot in the India T20 team, besides being a top contender for captaincy once the national selectors decide to move on from Suryakumar Yadav.
The Mumbai batter is an inspirational leader, as the Kolkata Knight Riders would testify. On Saturday, his unbeaten 69 off 33 balls helped Punjab Kings to a six-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mullanpur. Punjab remain undefeated in their four matches so far, having chased down a 220-run target with seven balls to spare.
Sunrisers’ openers, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, put on 120, but Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya responded with a 99-run partnership. Thereafter, Shreyas ensured the rest of the chase went smoothly.
The winning runs were scored by Shashank Singh, who earlier dismissed both Abhishek and Head in one over to trigger a slump which the Sunrisers couldn’t recover from. The Sunrisers had raced to 120 for no loss in eight overs, but scored just 99 in their last 12.
Once Shashank got the breakthroughs, the rest of the bowlers ensured the likes of Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen didn’t take the game away from them.
Abhishek, who hammered five fours and eight sixes, made 74 off 28, his first half-century of the season. Their 105 in the Powerplay was the joint-third highest score in the first six overs in the IPL. Punjab too had their moments of discomfort when they lost three wickets for 29 in 25 balls but Shreyas kept his cool.
The skipper thumped Eshan Malinga for 16 runs in four balls to bring up a 24-ball fifty, taking the equation under run-a-ball in the last four overs. There was no looking back for Punjab thereafter.
“The players are delivering on the field. I keep reiterating every now and then, you have to be in the present,” Shreyas said after the victory.
“Ricky (Ponting) also takes a lot of importance in this aspect. Even last year, we came so close to winning the trophy. This year, we want to lift it. It will take a lot of effort to envision that,” he said.
“Firstly, we’ve got a phenomenal start. When you’re chasing 220, you need that start. Pleasing to the eye, proper cricketing shots. Steadied the rhythm at the start.
Not easy, but maintaining that momentum... I needed to give myself time.”
