If Shreyas Iyer had been batting on that second day of the Manchester Test back in 1993, there’s a fair chance he’d have casually swept Shane Warne’s vicious leg-spinner out of trouble. There would have been no ‘ball of the century’. Drop him into Adelaide on that scorching December morning in 2013, and Mitchell Johnson’s fiery outswinger? Probably met with a calm dead bat, middled like a routine throwdown.

Too much? Maybe. But if you were up past midnight on Sunday, 1 June, watching Iyer dig out a Jasprit Bumrah yorker-seemingly destined to smash into the base of middle stump-and calmly guide it past the keeper with surgical precision, you’d know this was no exaggeration. The Narendra Modi Stadium was left speechless. Even AB de Villiers, a maestro of cricketing wizardry, confessed he’d likely have shattered his bat attempting that shot-and crowned Iyer’s effort ‘the shot of IPL 2025’.

In that moment, Shreyas Iyer reminded us of what every cricket fan lives for: the thrill of watching someone do the improbable, and make it look easy.

Shreyas Iyer’s eyes told the story. Not when he was casually dispatching the best bowlers in the world during his blistering 41-ball 87 not out against the serial winners Mumbai Indians in the make-or-break IPL Qualifier 2, as Punjab Kings chased to become the first team to score 200-plus against a Jasprit Bumrah-led attack. No, the real story was in those now-iconic words he spoke after a crushing 8-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1: “We have lost the battle, not the war.”

At the time, it felt a touch over-the-top – almost too bullish – coming off a performance where his side had overcooked their aggression on a spicy pitch in Mullanpur, folding for a mere 101, the second-lowest total ever in an IPL playoff. Many wondered if Punjab Kings had simply run out of steam at the worst possible moment, after punching above their weight and exceeding all expectations by reaching the playoffs in the first place.

IYER-POWERED PUNJAB DO THE IMPROBABLE

When Mumbai Indians then posted a daunting 203 on the board, another ‘so-near-yet-so-far’ heartbreak seemed inevitable for Punjab. But Shreyas, with ice in his veins and fire in his eyes, refused to let that narrative stand. Instead, he produced one of the most unforgettable knocks of the IPL season, proving the doubters spectacularly wrong.

Walking in at No. 4 after a solid powerplay, Shreyas Iyer initially played second fiddle to Josh Inglis, who was smashing everything in sight. Inglis even blasted a 20-run over off Jasprit Bumrah but fell at the worst possible moment, leaving Punjab wobbling at 72 for 3 in the eighth over.

At the same venue two years earlier, Iyer had faltered when it mattered most – the World Cup final against Australia – after a stellar run in the tournament. But the last two years hardened him. He lost his BCCI central contract. He was dropped by Kolkata Knight Riders – the very team he’d led to a long-awaited title. And even as he worked on his game, he was relentlessly reminded of an old flaw – the short ball – a narrative that eventually cost him his Test spot. Each jab, each snub, only sharpened his edge.

The man who powered Punjab Kings past 72 for 3 in just 19 overs was a new beast. Not once did he crack under pressure. The big guns – Bumrah, Trent Boult – didn’t faze him. Instead, they lit a fire under him. It was as if Shreyas had been waiting for this exact moment, this exact stage, to unleash the best version of himself.

He hit eight towering sixes, each struck with the conviction of a man hungry for IPL glory and eager for another showdown with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Whenever Mumbai Indians tightened the screws with a tidy couple of overs, Shreyas smashed the pressure away with ruthless clean hitting.

Mumbai conceded just 11 runs across overs 11 and 12 – four off left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar and seven off Bumrah’s second over. Iyer responded by pulverising Reece Topley for three sixes in the 13th over. Each time a wicket fell, Iyer answered with a boundary, sending a clear message to Hardik Pandya and his men: he was a man on a mission, unwilling to budge when pushed.

Even cricket’s most fail-proof tactic couldn’t stop Shreyas on Sunday. With 31 needed off the last three overs, Hardik turned to his go-to man, Bumrah. But Punjab’s captain was unfazed, collecting eight runs off the over and denying Bumrah the breakthrough. It was in that over that he expertly guided a near-unplayable yorker past the keeper, telling Mumbai that nothing – not even the best in the business and his best weapon – could halt his charge to the final.

FIRE IN HIS EYES, ICE IN HIS VEINS

Shreyas Iyer’s celebrations after guiding Punjab Kings to their first IPL final in 11 years were remarkably muted. It was as if he had consciously denied his hypothalamus and posterior pituitary gland the chance to release oxytocin – that flood of joy and relief – until ‘Project Punjab’ reached its ultimate destination on 3 June. His cold, emotionless body language after smashing the winning six in the 19th over only deepened the intrigue surrounding a man often seen as enigmatic and misunderstood.

Why celebrate? After riding the rollercoaster of highs and lows over the past 24 months, Shreyas Iyer knows that cheering without the IPL trophy in hand would short-change the hard lessons he’s learnt. When Iyer was bought by Punjab Kings for a staggering Rs 26.75 crore, it seemed like yet another one of the franchise’s characteristic, high-spending auction gambles. Sure, they’d signed a title-winning captain from Kolkata Knight Riders, but the question lingered: was he really worth that kind of money?

Shreyas has launched every shred of doubt into the top tier.

For the first time in over a decade, Punjab Kings aren’t just here to participate – they’re here to terrify. Under Iyer’s cold-blooded leadership and Ricky Ponting’s cut-the-fluff coaching, this team has morphed from perennial punchline to full-blown powerhouse. Trophy or no trophy, Iyer has already pulled off the greatest heist of IPL 2025 – rewriting Punjab’s story.

When Shreyas Iyer, 30, eventually calls time on his career, these two years will gleam like a highlight reel on loop. The highs, the heartbreaks. All of it has forged a version of Shreyas that’s tougher, sharper, and completely unapologetic. He’s still got the strut, still wears his heart on his sleeve. But now, the bat does most of the talking.

If 603 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 175+ didn’t kill the noise, that ice-cold 87 in Qualifier 2 sent the critics packing.

Shreyas hasn’t been broken by the uncertainty of the game. He’s been sharpened by it. In the last 12 months alone: an IPL title with KKR, domestic trophies with Mumbai, and a Champions Trophy medal. While some were busy writing him off, he was busy stacking silverware.

He felt snubbed when the KKR story was rewritten without his name in bold. But now? If Punjab lift the IPL trophy on Tuesday night, don’t be surprised if he gives the camera a long, unblinking stare – not to prove a point, but to remind everyone: he was always built for this.