Shreyas Iyer and Rajat Patidar had met as rival captains in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy less than six months ago. Mumbai had then prevailed over Madhya Pradesh in a show of batting strength but things are expected to be different on Tuesday evening.

“Yeah, I’m getting the feel of Mushtaq Ali. When I met Rajat, I told him that... Mushtaq Ali is being repeated here in the finals,” Shreyas recalled during Monday’s match-eve news conference.

The Punjab Kings captain was back at the stadium less than 24 hours after guiding his team to the IPL 2025 final.

“I couldn’t sleep. I hardly had four hours of sleep and I am here,” Shreyas said. “I went to my room. And then next thing I know, I am here doing the press conference.”

He agreed that Sunday’s 87 not out against Mumbai Indians was his best.

“Winning the match for the team is obviously the best feeling in the world and on a pressure occasion, yes, I would rate this as the top-most innings of mine, absolutely,” Shreyas said.

“I love to play the situation as much as possible and not get too much ahead of the game. If I’m chasing, I see the required run rate and how the wicket is playing and which all bowlers are going to come.

“Based on that, I plan my tactics and also I see to it that I take the game to the end. All these planning have to be precise and has to work on the given day.”

He said since he felt “the job is only half done”, he did not feel like celebrating on Sunday. “It’s not yet finished. We have another match... From that mindset, my approach was that my job is half done. I have to come back tomorrow (Tuesday),” he said.

RCB skipper Patidar felt it wasn’t frustrating that the focus was solely on Virat Kohli though the team has been performing as a unit.

“I think he has given a lot of years to RCB and the international side also. We will try to do our best in the game.

“Till now, I have enjoyed a lot to be honest. For me, I think it is a great opportunity to learn from the great leaders of the game, (some) great players, great foreign players of the game,” he said.

“I have always tried to create a good environment off the field as much as I can so that every player, whether it is a domestic or an international player, feels the same.
They should feel relaxed and confident,” Patidar said.