LSG vs PBKS: Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings continue to flex batting muscle in dream start to IPL 2025

It’s not just the Royal Challengers Bengaluru who have stamped their authority early in the 18th season of the Indian Premier League and have highlighted their credentials as a worthy contender for the title this year. Shreyas Iyer has had quite the success as a leader in the IPL, having led Delhi Capitals to their only final in 2020 and delivering Kolkata Knight Riders their third title last year.

And the manner in which he has led Punjab Kings so far this season, guiding them to two wins in as many outings over the course of a week, certainly gives the ‘perennial underachievers’ hope of finally adding some silverware to their cabinet that has gathered plenty of dust and cobwebs in 17 years of the IPL’s existence.

After pulling off a thrilling 11-run victory over Gujarat Titans in their season-opener in Ahmedabad, PBKS won two-in-two with a clinical eight-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on Tuesday. An in the process, the Ricky Ponting-coached side highlighted the one area where they could end up bossing the remaining teams this season – their top-four.

Punjab discover their ideal top-four in clinical chase against Lucknow

What’s common between their two wins so far this season is their batting dominance – Punjab Kings had posted 243/5 against Gujarat Titans on 25 March, and had chased down the 172-run target set by Lucknow Super Giants with eight wickets and nearly four overs to spare on Tuesday.

Also common between the two wins was captain Iyer leading by example – he chose to let Shashank Singh farm the strike in the death overs and add another 10-15 runs to their total at the cost of his maiden IPL century in Ahmedabad. And on Tuesday, he continued his fine run with the bat that has spanned a couple of months now with an unbeaten 52 off 30 deliveries, collecting three fours and four sixes.

On both occasions, Iyer had stitched a solid second-wicket partnership with an opener to put the Kings in a position of authority after losing a wicket inside the powerplay. Against GT, it was Priyansh Arya who blasted his way to a 23-ball 47, with Iyer staying at the crease till the end to ensure Punjab finishing within touching distance of the 250-mark. There was also middle-order batter Shashank’s unbeaten 44 off 16 balls that came in real handy .

At Lucknow’s Ekana Cricket Stadium though, Iyer was happy to take the backseat and let Prabhsimran do all the heavy lifting. Such was the wicketkeeper-batter’s dominance in the powerplay that PBKS ended up racing to 62/1 at the end of the sixth over despite Arya getting dismissed by Delhi teammate Digvesh Rathi in the second over.

LSG needed a few early strikes and had to restrict them to under 50 runs in the powerplay if they were to defend 171 – a total that skipper Rishabh Pant would later describe as one that was 20-25 runs short. Prabhsimran’s blitz, which included two fours and a six in consecutive deliveries from Ravi Bishnoi, nearly killed off the contest before the Punjab chase could even reach the halfway mark.

And in the process, Prabhsimran joined Shashank in highlighting why their franchise had retained just the two of them while releasing the rest of the squad into the auction pool ahead of last year’s mega auction in Jeddah.

Prabhsimran finally departed at the start of the 11th over, with Ayush Badoni and Bishnoi pulling off an excellent relay catch at the midwicket boundary to give Rathi his second wicket. However, Nehal Wadhera – making his maiden appearance for PBKS after replacing Yuzvendra Chahal as the ‘Impact Player’ – provided the finishing touch with an unbeaten 43 off 25 balls, forging an unbroken third-wicket stand that was worth 67 off just 37 deliveries.

With two explosive openers in Prabhsimran and Arya, a versatile, in-form batter in Iyer who can either go slam-bang or go defensive depending on the situation, and Wadhera making a solid case for the No 4 slot, PBKS have perhaps locked in on their ideal batting combination in their first two matches of the season.

And three of those four players being uncapped Indians does give the franchise flexibility to utilise their overseas options in other departments, including playing both Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis in the middle order alongside Shashank.

With back-to-back wins on the road, Iyer, Ponting and the rest of the Punjab camp will surely be itching to finally play in front of a home crowd at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in Mullanpur, which hosts Rajasthan Royals in its first game this season on Saturday.