New Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer became the seventh IPL captain to score over 2000 runs in the tournament’s history. The 30-year-old Shreyas Iyer made his IPL debut in 2015 and was part of the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) till 2021 before switching his base to Kolkata Knight Riders. In IPL 2024, he led KKR to their third IPL title in history but the franchise didn’t retain him after failed negotiations.
Interestingly, Shreyas Iyer scored a half-century on his debut for Punjab. Debutant Priyansh Arya set the platform with 47 runs off 23 deliveries. Shreyas Iyer capitalised on the momentum, completing his half-century in 27 deliveries. He brought that up with a cracking six against Rashid Khan in the 14th over of the match. It was his 28th half-century in the tournament.
A blistering unbeaten 97 from skipper Shreyas Iyer, a powerful finish from Shashank Singh and a terrific exhibition of bowling at the death from impact sub Vijaykumar Vyshak helped a new-look Punjab Kings make a winning start to IPL 2025. Gujarat Titans were in the hunt for the major part of the chase despite having a daunting target of 244 in front of them, but they fell short in the end by a mere 11 runs.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : Â 64m and 66m on the sides. The surface looks wonderful. The grass covering is not to worry about. 200 has been achieved 10 times out of 17 times at this venue. Dew is expected at the interval. You got to chase. It is a batter’s wicket and you need to make the most of it.
Toss : Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl with four pacers and two spinners in the Playing XI. Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer batting first has three seamers and one spinner in the Playing XI.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 97 runs assisted by debutant Priyansh Arya and Shashank Singhs blistering cameo propels PBKSÂ to 243 for 5 in 20 overs.
India continues to produce top-class batting talent all the time. On Tuesday (March 25), it was the turn of Priyansh Arya to make a mark very early in his IPL career. He hit just the second ball he faced for a boundary and even though he received a big reprieve in the very next over, the left-hander took full toll of that costly drop and took on Mohammed Siraj again – an effortless flick for a six which was then followed by a boundary.
Priyansh Arya got big ups from his coach Ricky Ponting in the pre-season and it does seem like he has the goods. The 24-year-old, left-hand opening batter was responsible for eight of his team’s 12 boundaries in the powerplay, and considering he was facing Mohammed Siraj and Rabada, that’s a big tick.
Shashank was the other big performer for Punjab on the batting front. He came in with the death overs looming, so he knew he couldn’t take any time to settle. He got to face 16 balls and sent half of them to the boundary, his best work coming when he took Siraj down in a final over that went for 23.
Kagiso Rabada then gave Titans the breakthrough by sending Prabhsimran Singh back early but Shreyas Iyer walked out to the middle with intent for his new franchise and took the South African apart for a four and a six off his first four deliveries. Arshad Khan was the next to bear the brunt as he was welcomed into the attack by Arya with three delightful fours and a six. Overall, they smashed 73 in the powerplay with the young opener fetching 42 out of those.
After that powerplay, Titans had to rely on Rashid Khan to provide them the breakthrough. He gladly obliged as Arya top-edged one to miss a debut fifty by three runs. However, Rashid’s Afghanistan teammate Azmatullah Omarzai smashed him for a six first ball to signal his intentions. He then proceeded to hit Prasidh Krishna for a couple of boundaries but either side of that got worked over by Sai Kishore who bowled a brilliant spell.
He was rewarded with wickets off successive deliveries as Omarzai and Glenn Maxwell departed to suddenly leave PBKS in a jittery spot. That still didn’t deter Shreyas though as he kickstarted Sai Kishore’s next over with two massive sixes. He was dealing only in sixes at one point as he then rounded off the following over from Rashid with two sixes as well to bring up a fifty. The ball continued to fly as Shreyas Iyer and Marcus Stoinis targeted Siraj for a six each to round off a terrific spell of play for the batting side.
Shreyas Iyer knew PBKS needed a big score at a ground where chasing teams had won five of the last six IPL games. Dew plays a big part in that discrepancy and there was plenty of it on Tuesday evening. Keeping all that in mind, Iyer took every opportunity he was given to swing free. Shreyas Iyer flicked his fourth ball for six, off Kagiso Rabada.
Shreyas Iyer pulverised Sai Kishore for two more, right after the left-arm spinner had picked up two wickets in two balls in his previous over. Shreyas Iyer even took down Rashid Khan, contributing two of the five sixes the leg spinner had to contend with in his final analysis of 4-0-48-1. Shreyas Iyer was so switched onto run-scoring opportunities that he spotted a wide from the non-strikers’ end in the 15th over. When he came on strike for the extra ball, he hit that for six too.
Titans actually made a pretty good start to the final phase of the innings when Sai Kishore returned to pick up the big wicket of Stoinis. However, what followed suit was a stunning assault from the well-set Shreyas Iyer and new man Shashank Singh. The captain Shreyas Iyer kickstarted the assault with a massive 24-run over that saw him clear the ropes three more times on the night to race to 90. But he still couldn’t get to his hundred despite staying unbeaten until the end because of a one-man show from Shashank.
High on confidence after last season’s exploits, Shashank pulled Rashid for a six and lofted him straight down the ground for another big one to race to 20 off 7. In the final over, he denied Shreyas Iyer the strike with the skipper on 97 and faced all six deliveries to make the most of it. Siraj was clobbered to all parts of the ground as PBKS’ finisher found the boundary five times to ensure his side made a mind-boggling 77 runs from the final four overs.
Shreyas Iyer had a century for the taking. He was 97 off 42 when the final over began, but he did not face a single ball of it, having told his partner Shashank Singh not to worry about the landmark. He had said prior to the start of the season that he wanted to bat at No. 3 and he showed against GT the extent of damage he can do from there. His career-best IPL score included nine sixes. Only once in this tournament has he cleared the boundary more often, and to bat this way was a conscious decision.
Sai Sudarshan’s and Jos Buttler’s breezy half centuries in vain as impact player Vijay Kumar Vyshak guides PBKS to 11 runs win over GT
Sai Sudarshan played a couple of delightful shots at the start but Omarzai and Arshdeep Singh still managed to keep him fairly quiet that ensured Titans made only 17 runs from the first three overs. That required Shubman Gill to take the initiative at the other end as he flicked the Afghan allrounder for a six and pulled another one over the ropes two balls later.
Two more sixes – one from each opener – followed in Marco Jansen’s first over as Titans finally got a big move. However, Maxwell’s introduction in the final over of the powerplay proved to be a masterstroke for the bowling side as Gill miscued one terribly in his attempt to smash one down the ground that saw the skipper depart for a 14-ball 33.
Just staying in the hunt needed a herculean effort from the Titans. But they managed to do that heading into the death overs as Sudarshan now started teeing off after Gill’s departure. Taking down Stoinis initially, the left-hander was also severe against Yuzvendra Chahal, allowing Jos Buttler time to settle in.
Sai Sudharsan made a hundred the last time he batted here in the IPL, against CSK, whom he had flayed all around the park in the final those two teams played as well. He’s got the big match temp down. He hasn’t been shown up by any kind of bowling just yet. T20 might actually not be his best format. It requires him to push a little harder than his game allows right now. Imagine him in Test whites, though, with all the time in the world to construct an innings.
It can’t be all that long before India throw him in. There’s an England tour coming up and he’s played first-class cricket there the past two seasons. In this game, he made 74 off 41 and took off when Titans ransacked 87 runs in the six overs from the ninth to the 14th. Titans were ahead of Punjab by 30 runs at this stage of the game (169 vs 139, with two fewer wickets lost). Jos Buttler, at No. 3 for his new team, helped himself to a fifty as well.
Maxwell’s reintroduction didn’t work this time as both the batters clobbered a six each to send him out of the attack before Sudarshan took on Chahal again, fetching two fours and a six in an over to put the pressure back on the bowling side. Arshdeep came back into the attack to finally get rid of the well-set batter but Buttler and then impact sub Sherfane Rutherford got into the attack to launch an assault that brought down the equation to a gettable 75 off 36 with 8 wickets still in hand.
Vijaykumar Vyshak had only just been subbed on before he was given the ball for the 15th over. He ran in with just one thing in mind. Hitting the blockhole, which wasn’t all that easy given the dew that was around. A few of his deliveries became wide full-tosses but he didn’t care. For two overs, the 15th and 17th, he pitched every single ball, including the extras, at a full length.
There was nothing even on a good length. Thanks to that combination of clarity and execution, he only gave away 10 runs in those 12 balls and sucked all the momentum out of the Titans innings. Where Punjab made 77 runs in their last five overs, Titans could only cobble together 50.
Vysakh’s introduction as an impact sub for PBKS made all the difference in the end. With six overs left, he started bowling from one end and kept nailing the wide yorker again and again, particularly to Rutherford, to turn the tide. He did miss his mark a few times to concede a few wides but given the amount of runs Titans needed, it didn’t matter much. Sandwiched between Vysakh’s first two overs was an excellent over from Jansen as those three overs saw Titans score only 18 runs.
That meant the batting side something very special from the final three overs. Jansen gave away 12 runs from the 18th over which was superb from the bowling side’s point of view considering the state of the game and he also removed dangerman Buttler.
Vyshak was finally picked apart for a couple of fours and a six in the penultimate over but once again, all those runs arrived only after the damage had already been done in the previous overs. With 27 needed from the final six deliveries, the game was done the moment Arshdeep clattered Rutherford’s stumps off the fourth delivery.
Presentation and Road Ahead
Shubman Gill the losing GT skipper said : I think we got our chances when we were bowling and batting. Too many runs were given away. We let ourselves down on the field as well. Those three overs in the middle when we scored 18 runs, that and the first three overs we didn’t score too many runs.
That costed us the game. Many positives as well. Good start to the tournament I guess. (on Vyshak) Never easy for someone to come in as an Impact player and bowl those yorkers when you have been on the bench for 15 overs. Credit to them for bowling yorkers on the trot. I mean it is always a good batting wicket here to bat on. You might score 240-250, but you have to restrict the opposition as well.
Shreyas Iyer the winning skipper and Player of the Match for his unbeaten 97 runs said : Getting 97 not out in the opening game of the season for us is the icing on the cake. I got a four the first ball I faced and it got me going. That flick six off Rabada as well. 44 runs he (Shashank) scored off 16-17 balls was pretty crucial for the team. We set a benchmark that we had to go for it. With the dew coming things could change and thankfully he performed.
(on Vyshak) He is a funny character. He has got traits in him where he comes in with the right attitude. He bowled the yorkers straightaway. Kept his calm and composure. Arshdeep played an important role in that (the wide yorker plan). He came in and said the ball is actually reversing a bit so the saliva on the ball is helping the bowlers a bit I guess.
He got Sai and that changed the momentum for us and then he came in and said let’s start the wide yorkers earlier than trying it too late. Before the season started we left no stone unturned. In our meetings everyone chipped in with what we can execute on the field and it wasn’t just me talking. We look to carry forward the momentum into the other games as well.
New (or returning) players have hogged the limelight this first week of IPL 2025 and it was no different in Ahmedabad where last season’s title-winning captain announced himself in grand style. Shreyas Iyer led Punjab Kings’ batting line-up to their second-highest total of all time, and then victory over Gujarat Titans by 11 runs.
Undoubtedly at the death. Punjab Kings powered by a stunning cameo from Shashank Singh hammered 87 runs from the final five overs – 77 from the final four. But when Gujarat Titans needed 70 from 30, their bowlers did enough to help their side pull through with Vyshak and Marco Jansen getting the job done.
They might well be Tom Brady and Malcolm Butler of Punjab Kings. Shreyas Iyer and Priyansh Arya are as contrasting as the two American football stars – one a seasoned campaigner, the other an aspiring upstart – who delivered when it mattered most for the Patriots in 2015 Super Bowl. Similarly, Shreyas Iyer and Arya rose to the occasion for Punjab Kings – albeit in a season opener – but with an impact just as telling.
There was a third star in that famous game for the Patriots – Julian Edelman – and Punjab Kings had their own in Vijaykumar Vyshak, who stepped up at a crucial moment to turn the match on its head against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night. Everyone played their part for the Punjab side, but Shreyas Iyer, Arya, and Vyshak were the standout stars of the PBKS win.
Shreyas Iyer, in contrast, was a blend of a Ferrari and a Rolls-Royce – a heady mix of speed and smooth. Riding on the momentum of his Champions Trophy success, the PBKS skipper displayed exceptional sense of timing, confidence, and self-belief. His innings was a masterclass in stroke-making, marked by power, placements, and precision. In the end, his blistering, fiery, and unbeaten knock was the tour de force that powered Punjab Kings to victory on the night.
His 97 off 42 deliveries, including five boundaries, felt like a joyride in a theme park. The runs flowed all around the ground – three through third man, seven through fine leg, 11 through point, 14 through covers, 18 in the square leg region, 21 at long-on, and 19 through mid-wicket. But the most striking aspect of his innings yet was his selflessness.
A tough-as-nails batter, Shreyas Iyer found himself on 97, with a chance to record his maiden IPL century in the final over. Instead of chasing personal glory, he urged his partner to go his shots, prioritizing the team’s interest over his milestone.
Shashank responded in style, hammering 22 runs off the final over (4, 2, 4, 4, wd, 4, 4 – 23 in total), a contribution that proved crucial in the final outcome. Punjab Kings won by 11 runs, the 81-run unbeaten sixth wicket association between Iyer and Shashank standing out as the undisputed tour de force of the night.
Vyshak was brought in as an impact player, and he left an impact instantly. Tasked with bowling the 15th and 17th overs, he stymied Gujarat Titans’ charge, at a time when Jos Buttler and Sherfane Rutherford were on a rampage against the Punjab bowlers. In those three overs – including one by Marco Jansen – only 18 runs were conceded (at just six runs per over) at a time when the required run rate was more than double.
The right-arm pacer from Karnataka conceded just 10 runs in his first two overs with a well-thought out strategy of wide yorkers. His decision to go wide – even at the risk of a few extras – caught the Gujarat Titans off guard. The Titans needed 28 runs in the final over and it was not an easy proposition as the much-discussed duo of Iyer and Ponting managed to extract the best out of the Punjab Kings players.
What a weird game. 244 runs were scored with some amazing batting. GT started slowly but they knew if they had wickets in hand anything is chasable here. Sai and Buttler set a solid base and were even almost running away with the game but Arshdeep broke that stand getting Sai. Rutherford came in and hit quick runs but suddenly had brain fade moments. He let PBKS boss him with one ploy – bowl wide of off and away from the arc.
And the response from the batter was to only slice or loft through the off-side despite fielders in the deep on the on-side. There was no deep square-leg, no deep backward square-leg, no fine-leg. And there were about 10 balls that Rutherford could have easily stepped across the line and look to scoop or sweep or slog and just throw the bat at it to hit leg-side but he chose not to till the very end. To think they lost only by 11 runs, the mind cannot go beyond that phase where GT lost the plot.
Take nothing away from PBKS. After three 17-run overs after the 10th over, Vyshak came and started this trend. Jansen rubbed on and caught it. Vyshak managed to boss it till the end. He might not have taken a wicket but his impact was immense. And they were bowling those wide yorkers fine despite the dew.
Days like these can actually make you better. Rutherford could be feeling low today, but he has the talent to rise. It is an opportunity to upskill. It is all about the attitude now and the ones with the right mindset can’t be bogged down for long. Yesterday was about the joy of watching Ashutosh and Vipraj. Today was a case of highs and lows
Titans would be disappointed losing that game after coming so close in the chase but they will have to pull themselves up quickly as Mumbai Indians arrive at their den for a game on Saturday with both teams looking for their first win. Punjab Kings on the other hand will get a pretty good break before their next clash on April 1 against Lucknow Super Giants in another away game. LSG would have played another game already before that clash.
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