Punjab Kings qualified for the Indian Premier League 2025 playoffs on Sunday, May 18. PBKS secured a top-four spot after Gujarat Titans hammered Delhi Capitals by 10 wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. This was the first time since 2014 that Punjab reached the playoffs of the tournament.
Their qualification also meant that Shreyas Iyer, captaining PBKS for the first time, became the first ever captain to lead three different franchises into the IPL playoffs. Before playing for Punjab, Shreyas Iyer guided Delhi Capitals to the final in the 2020 season. In 2024, he won the IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders. Shreyas, an underrated commodity in the tournament, was brought in by Punjab on the advice of Ricky Ponting, who had a successful partnership with him during their time at Delhi Capitals.
Shreyas was bought for Rs 26.75 crore by the Punjab Kings, becoming the second most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League. Iyer led the franchise from the front scoring a large number of runs for the franchise. Iyer’s captaincy was praised this season as well, where Punjab were able to bring back games from separate situations against teams like Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders this season.
Punjab Hold Nerve vs Rajasthan
Punjab Kings played the first match in the doubleheader Sunday in the resumption of IPL. Batting first, Punjab wreere hit back by 3 early wickets on the day. The team once again showed mettle and scored 219 runs, courtesy of two fabulous batting performances from Nehal Wadhera (70) and Shashank Singh (59*).
Punjab then braved two stunting performances from Yashasvi Jaiswal (50) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (40) to seal the match by 10 runs. Stand-in captain Shashank Singh was guided by Shreyas Iyer in the second innings of the match, as he was forced to be on the sidelines due to a finger injury.
Spinner Harpreet Brar turned out to be the star of the show on Sunday, picking up 3 crucial wickets, including both openers.
With the win, PBKS reached 17 points from 12 games, eventually resulting in a qualification with 2 games in hand.
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