Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer said that his side ‘fell short’ while executing the plans despite a spirited fight, but also added that remaining on top of the points table despite back-to-back defeats offered perspective after their four-wicket loss to the Gujarat Titans on Sunday as well. Iyer praised his team’s fighting spirit, stating the challenging nature of the surface and the effort to recover from a sudden collapse as well.
Reflecting on the total of 163/9, Iyer said, “I personally feel it was a great score on a wicket where the ball was doing a bit at the start, especially the new ball.” He credited Gujarat’s bowlers for exploiting the conditions effectively, adding, “Their bowlers made the best use of the surface – the way they were hitting the lengths and the deck. It was right at the stumps and not giving us much options to open our arms and score runs.”
However, Punjab Kings were reduced to 35/3 in the powerplay and slipped to 47/5 again, but a steady partnership between Suryansh Shedge and Marcus Stoinis revived the innings as well. Iyer applauded the significance of that recovery as well.
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“We lost four wickets I assume in the powerplay. To get to 160 from there was a phenomenal effort. With the new ball I thought we would be able to hit our line and length and get early wickets. But that didn’t work out,” he said.
“But the way we fought till the end, kudos to the efforts. The attitude and approach was excellent. We missed out on hitting the hard lengths. Hitting over midwicket or pull shot wasn’t easy on this wicket because there was variable bounce. Wasn’t an apt wicket to bat on.”
“In terms of execution, we fell a bit short. We’re still on top of the table, which is what matters. We’ll take positives from this game,” he said again. “It’s a great challenge going forward in the IPL (playing on such pitches) because it tends to bring up the attitude of the bowlers as well. It can level up their confidence.”
“We wanted to win but it didn’t click. Excited for the opportunity, want to get that two points. Have been working very hard in training. If the character is high and attitude is right, you’ll get results eventually. Just got to stick to our basics and routines and not think too much ahead,” Shreyas Iyer concluded.
