As the Silver Patidar aims to lead the royal challengers Bangalore for his first IPL title, Shreyas Iyer again stands on his way, as he did in December in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in December.
Only in December, Rajat Patidar led Madhya Pradesh to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. This was only the second time in 14 years when MPs reached the final of the BCCI’s domestic T20 tournament. But Shreyas Iyer’s Mumbai broke her heart. As in luck, Iyer again stands on his way as Patidar led the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2025 finals. RCB never won the title.
While Captain Iyer has already faced Captain Patidar in IPL 2025, with RCB win twice, including 101-run all-out insults over Punjab, a final is different. Iyer is more experienced to lead a team and has already played two IPL finals, lifting the title with Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous season. For Patidar, it is an unknown area. This is his first IPL final and he knows the difference.
“I saw Shreyas in the morning and told him that it looks similar to the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The difference is that it is an IPL final, and it was Mushtaq Ali final,” Patidar said at the press conference before the IPL final.
‘Job is half’
Many people did not give Punjab Kings a chance when the IPL started. PBKS conducted another major overhaul with a new coach, new captain and almost a new squad. But Captain Iyer and Coach Ricky Ponting have changed things after years of disappointment. Now, 11 years later, they are in another final. But for Iyer, the job is only half. A few hours after leading their team in the final of IPL 2025, Iyer attended a press conference with four hours of sleep.
“After the victory over Mumbai, I felt that my work is only half. The job is not yet finished. We have a match on Tuesday, and I have to come back to play tomorrow. So, I was thinking that Recovery is important, and how to prepare myself,” Iyer said.
While many people, apart from RCB hate, will routing to win the IPL title for Punjab Kings, for Iyer, it is about proving to be a point. He did not get any credit for leading the Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL title last season. All credit mentors went to Gautam Gambhir. There was no sparks in his batting. But in this season, he is the major run scorer of PBKS. He played one of the best knock of IPL playoffs, scoring 87 runs in qualifier 2.
He is sacrificing a T20. But now, many people want them to captain India in T20I and ODI as well. With his important record in Ahmedabad, Shreyas Iyer will launch another bid at an IPL title with Ponting. And if he wins it, he can join the league of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma.
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