IPL 2025: Iyer's move to PBKS is a gamechanger, says RP Singh

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Come Saturday, and Shreyas Iyer will be stepping on the Eden Gardens turf as the skipper of Punjab Kings, aiming to get his team two crucial points against a misfiring Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the side he led them to IPL 2024 title.

While many expressed surprise over Iyer not being retained by KKR, the right-handed batter has gone about his business as the PBKS’ skipper with his usual sharp and thoughtful demeanour, resulting in the side winning five out of eight IPL 2025 games so far.

It also helps Iyer’s cause of leading PBKS with aplomb that he has scored 238 runs as the number three batter in four away matches this season, with the strike-rate standing at a massive 201.69.

RP Singh, the former India left-arm fast-bowler, feels Iyer’s shift from being KKR’s winning captain last year to playing against them as the PBKS skipper at the Eden Gardens will hold huge importance when the two sides clash in a crunch Saturday evening game.

“The Punjab Kings-Kolkata Knight Riders is a pretty important game of this week’s fixtures as Punjab defended a very small total last time through great bowling (in New Chandigarh). It looked like KKR would be dominant, but their form hasn’t been that great.”

“Saturday’s match also becomes more important because the winning captain of KKR last year is the captain of Punjab right now, which is Shreyas Iyer. So somewhere, that also holds a huge importance in this upcoming match,” said Singh, a JioStar expert, to IANS in a virtual interaction on Friday, on the sidelines of ‘Revenge Week’.

In PBKS’ solid defence of a paltry 111, the lowest score defended in the IPL, it was Iyer’s captaincy, tight field settings and timely rotation of bowlers that really stood out in outsmarting KKR at its first home turf, the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium.

Under his leadership, senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal regained form by picking a stunning four-fer to skittle KKR for just 95. That match also saw left-arm pacer Marco Jansen sizzle with 3-17 while Arshdeep Singh, the leading wicket-taker for PBKS so far, held one end firmly with 1-11 in his three overs.

The KKR-PBKS clash likely to be played on the pitch where Gujarat Titans (GT) made 193 and outclassed the defending champions 39 runs. Iyer and his star bowlers – via Jansen’s intimidating bounce, Arshdeep’s sharp swing, and Chahal’s crafty flight and loop – would be eager to make a strong statement once again against the Ajinkya Rahane-led side, this time at the Eden Gardens.

“It also depends on which wicket they are playing as because nowadays even the wickets on the same ground behave differently and the dew factor is also becoming important. Marco Jansen and Arshdeep Singh are very important players due to their performances.”

“As soon as they take wickets with the new ball, it pressurises the opposition. There’s also Chahal to put in another match-winning performance, but the importance of medium pacers is going to be more because they bowl in power-play, and the team that performs better in powerplay in terms of bowling and batting, they will have an upper edge,” concluded Singh.

Catch Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings in an electrifying IPL 2025 Revenge Week clash at 7:30 PM on Saturday, live and exclusive on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.

--IANS

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