‘We lost the battle, not war’: Shreyas Iyer after insulting the loss to RCB in qualifier 1. Cricket news

After the Punjab Kings crushed the 101-run all-out against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, his lowest total skipper Shreyas Iyer was composed in the history of the IPL playoffs, who urges to reflect and re-organize the next challenge. Speaking after the defeat in Mulanpur, where PBK was skitted in only 14.1 overs, Iyer accepted the responsibility, but defended the team’s pre-match preparation. He said, “Not a day to forget, but we have to go back to the drawing board. We have lost a lot of wickets. There is a lot to go back and study,” he said. PBK’s innings is now the youngest in IPL playoff history, assuming 16.1 overs attempts in 2008. This was also the fourth time when PBK was excluded for less than 111 in the IPL.Quiz: Who is that IPL player? Despite the shock, Iyer stood by his strategic decisions. He said, “I am not doubting my decisions. Whatever we planned was at the point. We could not simply execute,” he explained. “Can’t blame the bowlers either – it was very low to defend.”

RCB bowlers were tireless with a ball. Josh Hazelwood (3/21), Suyash Sharma (3/17), and Yash Dayal (2/26) exploded through PBKS line-up, reduced them to 48/4 in the powerplay and sealed the collapse until the 15th over.In response, RCB easily chased the target, hovering up to 106/2 in 10 overs, scoring 56 runs off 27 balls of Phil Salat, to book its place in the IPL 2025 finals.