IPL 2025: Need a slight hiccup to wake you up, says PBKS captain Iyer post season's first defeat

New Chandigarh, April 6 (IANS Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer claimed the lack of partnerships in the run chase saw Rajasthan Royals hand the home side their first defeat of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. But he still remained optimistic, saying the ‘loss will be good’ for his side.

After Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag powered the Rajasthan Royals to 205 in the first innings, Jofra Archer’s two early wickets helped his side dominate the game and begin the second innings in aggressive fashion.

“I felt we could have taken it slower and tried to build partnerships, but lots of learning from this game. Today, there was no dew as we anticipated, but I feel we need to go back to the drawing board and see the videos where we weren't able to execute with our bowling and batting. We lost back-to-back wickets as well, which wasn’t ideal as it isn’t easy for new batters," he said in the post-match presentation on Saturday.

“Nehal was phenomenal under pressure. He took some time and then was able to charge the bowlers and make the most of the situation. Need a slight hiccup to wake you up at the start of the tournament. I personally feel this loss will be good and we will need to go back to the drawing board,” said Iyer in the post-match presentation.

Although Rajasthan remained on top for the majority of the game, there was a brief period in the second innings when Parag seemed to be struggling with the bat. However, a late blitz saw him remain unbeaten on 43, with three sixes and fours each to his name, and dragged his side past the 200-run mark.

Iyer admitted that when he won the toss, he was hoping to restrict the Royals to 180-185, which he believed to be a chaseable total.

“To be honest, I was considering around 180-185. That would be good to chase over here, we weren’t able to execute our plans. I’m glad this blip happened early in the tournament. It was a decent pitch, the ball was holding a bit, and we were not giving them much pace,” he added.

--IANS

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