IPL play-offs: Who writes the script for Shreyas Iyer these days?

The IPL 2025 will have a new champion – and one needs to thank Shreyas Iyer for that. It was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the captain, as he almost singlehandedly guided the Punjab Kings to their second final after 11 years, at the expense of an ominous Mumbai Indians team.

One wonders who has been writing the script for the Mumbaikar over the last one and-a-half years. The recent snub for the Test squad to England, with the excuse that there is no room for the 30-year-old in the longer format, must have stung; and there have been several more instances where he has got the raw end of the deal. Each time, however, he seems to have found a better way of replying to his critics — with the bat.

The admonishment of being dropped from the central contracts last year – ostensibly for not playing domestic cricket, when Shreyas had actually gone back to play the Ranji Trophy – was an even harsher one for someone who was once labelled a future white ball captain for India. He came back strongly to lead Mumbai to the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy titles, captained the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL 2024 crown after a decade, and was one of India’s leading scorers for the ICC Champions Trophy.

CELEBRATION BY PREITY ZINTA ❤️

• AFTER 11 YEARS PBKS PLAYING FINAL AGAIN.

• PREITY ZINTA 🫂 SHREYAS IYER.#TATAIPL2025 #MIvsPBKS #PBKSvsRCB#SuryakumarYadav#PreityZinta#ShreyasIyer#RohitSharma𓃵#Qualifier2 pic.twitter.com/waVqHpIowJ

— ASHISH SINGH (@ASHISHS_45) June 2, 2025

The IPL records say that he is the only captain to have helmed three different teams to finals – the Delhi Capitals as a 24-year-old, the KKR and now the perennially underachieving Punjab Kings.

Who knows if his track record will acquire more gloss after the final against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday, 3 June; but for now, both he and Ricky Ponting will be mighty satisfied to have converted a team stocked with uncapped Indian talent into the proverbial dark horses.    

It’s often argued that in the crazy world of the IPL, accustomed to seeing a shower of sixes and centuries, the impact of a match-winning innings lasts only till the next game. However, Shreyas’ 87 off 41 deliveries against a quality MI attack – just then smelling blood, after having reduced the Punjab Kings to 55 for 2 while chasing a 200-plus total in a virtual semi-final – will remain an innings for the ages.   

‘’I love such big occasions. I always say to myself and also to my colleagues in the team that the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are, and you get the big results. Today was a good example, where I was focusing more on my breathing rather than swearing out loud over there,’’ Shreyas told the broadcasters.

The calmness in his effort was there for all to see in the way he paced his innings – taking it deep and then picking the right bowler for the assault.

He was on 19 off 15 deliveries when the Punjab Kings still needed 95 off the last eight overs. Shreyas singled out the pace of Reece Topley, the tall England bowler who got his debut cap on Sunday, 1 June, as the weak link in the rival attack and unleashed three back-to-back sixes over square leg, long-on and long-off, each better than the previous.

The innings was laced with eight sixes – each better than the other – but what also stood out was the way he handled the yorkers.

There was one particular shot when Shreyas opened the face of the blade to run down a Jasprit Bumrah yorker through third man for a boundary – a tough ask, at a time when most batters in world cricket would have been happy to just keep it out of harm’s way.

Come Tuesday, he will need to retain his calm as a batter and leader one more time – and goad the likes of Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh and Nehwal Wadheria to do the same. If they manage to cross the final hurdle, Punjab Kings can well lay down a new template for success for IPL teams in the future!