In the end, Mumbai Indians were done in by a Mumbaikar.

Shreyas Iyer remained calm and unflustered on Sunday night after paving the way for Punjab Kings into the IPL 2025 final. There was no show of emotion after the captain’s 87 not out off 41 balls helped the side successfully chase down 200-plus against Mumbai Indians for the first time in 18 years.

His only feeling was a show of anger directed at Shashank Singh once he saw his teammate approaching him after having smashed the winning six off Ashwani Kumar. Shashank remained silent as Shreyas gave him a mouthful for casually running between the wickets in the 17th over.

Shreyas walked in at 55/2 and was in control of the circumstances right through. He took time to settle down, but dominated the Mumbai attack and later crushed them. It seemed he could read in advance where the bowlers would pitch the ball and got into the perfect position to whack them.

The way he opened the face of the bat to Jasprit Bumrah’s well-directed yorker for a boundary in the closing stages was a classic example of the control and poise Shreyas possessed. Punjab needed 31 off 18 deliveries at that stage but the skipper was unflustered.

The toe-crushing yorker at 143kmph nearly shattered the base of his middle stump but Shreyas showed amazing reflexes to dig it out with a last-minute slice and put it beyond the short third man fielder.

His unwavering focus and concentration made his innings memorable. The brilliance of his craft even led AB de Villiers to acknowledge his shot selection.

“That’s the shot of the IPL for me. That’s hitting the middle-stump... the perfect yorker. That’s literally breaking the toe of the bat. You can’t get that away. That’s maybe breaking my stumps if I’m facing it... Just incredible batting... pure, brute force and strength. What a fantastic player,” said De Villiers on JioCinema.

It was not just his batting, his captaincy too was inspirational. To play with five uncapped players in the playing XI and get them to perform their roles with precision needs leadership acumen and courage. He displayed both in abundance and the results have been forthcoming.

“I love such big occasions. I always say to myself and also to my colleagues in the team that the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are, you get the big results,” Shreyas said.

He led KKR to their third IPL title last season and had reportedly declined their retention offer. Punjab Kings eventually acquired him for ₹26.75 crore as he got the chance to reunite with coach Ricky Ponting.

The two have cultivated a culture and environment where the players have the freedom to be fearless and express themselves.

The Kings will hope that Shreyas displays such magnanimity in abundance on Tuesday in their hope to end the trophy drought.