Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Shreyas Iyer for taking the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the IPL 2025 final with a stunning knock in Qualifier 2 against the Mumbai Indians (MI). He said that Iyer became the first captain to lead three different franchises to the Indian Premier League final as well. However, MI set PBKS a 204-run target in the third playoff game, where Shreyas smashed an unbeaten 87 off 41 as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Shreyas Iyer, the first captain to take three teams into the final. He has taken three different franchises to the final. Cometh the hour, cometh the Iyer. The way he batted in this match, one of the best knocks in the history of IPL playoffs. You remember Shane Watson’s century in a run chase, and now this knock. He started his IPL journey with this new franchise from this ground. He was 97 not out then, and now he is 87 not out, and in between, he has written an extremely beautiful story.”

However, Aakash Chopra also praised Shreyas Iyer for his well-planned innings in a big chase in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 as well.

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“Shreyas Iyer hit eight sixes. Mumbai hit seven sixes in their entire innings, and Iyer alone hit eight. I have rarely seen someone do a 200-run chase so fluently, fearlessly, and flawlessly. When he hit balls in the air, they only went into the stands. He hit three sixes in a Reece Topley over,” he said.

“Jasprit Bumrah bowled a perfect yorker, and he glided it to third man from in front of the stumps. What was that? That was incredible. Then he hit Trent Boult. You were bowling yorkers, and he was digging them out. You bowled slightly short, and he was hitting it into the stands. If you bowled full, he hit it straight,” Chopra shared again.

“His and Nehal’s fear was so much that Mitchell Santner didn’t come to bowl. He kept playing after soaking up so much pressure. When Ashwani Kumar came in the end, he said he would finish it in the 19th over. He hit sixes one after the other, incredible,” Aakash Chopra concluded.