 "Yuzvendra Chahal has taken seven wickets in last three matches with Punjab Kings winning two. Image: Reuters")
Punjab Kings (PBKS) stunned Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their own backyard as they moved to the second spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 points table on Friday. In a rain-curtailed match, PBKS restricted RCB to just 95/9 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Tim David’s 50 not out off 26 balls was the only saving grace for Bengaluru as Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal and Harpreet Brar took two wickets each. Xavier Bartlett accounted for one wicket.
The chase was completed in 12.1 overs by Punjab Kings as Nehal Wadhera smashed 33 not out after PBKS lost four wickets on 53.
How PBKS dismanteled RCB at Chinnaswamy
After the match Iyer, who is having a great time as Punjab’s skipper, explained his constant bowling changes that led to regular fall of wickets.
“As they say, variety is the spice of life. We are able to experience all kinds of games over here. It is a great challenge. There was no thinking to be honest. I was making instinctive moves and obviously we were getting wickets. I didn’t want the new batsman to come in and settle straightaway,” he said after the match.
Iyer underlined that hard length balls were difficult to hit and that became the go-to ball for the Punjab pacers.
“Marco was able to extract little bit of bounce on this wicket. He was bowling lethal. He basically steadied the ship. And the rest of the bowlers they helped him. To be honest, we didn’t know how the wicket was going to play and I personally feel the bowlers they adapted according to it. When I had a chat with Arshdeep, he said, the hard length balls were very difficult to hit on this wicket because I didn’t see a single six off a fast bowler hit down the ground. That was the chatter going around and they were fantastic in executing it,” Iyer added.
How Chahal scripted a turnaround in IPL 2025
The 30-year-old captain also heaped high praise on youngster Nehal for guiding the chase and veteran Chahal, who not only took two wickets but gave away just 11 runs in three overs, essentially snuffing the life out of RCB’s innings.
“Yes, absolutely, you need one batsman to take the charge. Nehal was brilliant in his approach today. The attitude was top-notch. I hope he continues the same form,” Iyer said.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Personally I had a chat with Chahal. I told him you are a match-winner and you need to get us wickets as much as possible. You don’t need to be safe in your approach and he has got the capability of bouncing back. That’s what we appreciate of him as a leggie. Probably he is the best bowler in the IPL so far,” Iyer added while sharing how Chahal has scripted a turnaround in IPL 2025.