Ahmedabad, Jun 1 (PTI) Bigger the occasion, calmer he becomes is how Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer described his incredible 41-ball-87 that knocked out five-time champions Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.
Iyer, who led KKR to IPL title last year, played one of the finest knocks under pressure in a high stakes knock-out game to chase down a target of 204 in just 19 overs.
Asked about his secret recipe, Iyer replied: “I don’t know to be honest, I love such big occasions. I always say to myself and to my colleagues in the team that the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are, you get the big results,” Iyer said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Today was a right example where I was focusing more on my breathing rather than sweating out there,” he added. He was happy that each and every player showed intent.
“All players need to be assertive and show that intent from ball one. The intent was stupendous and even for me, I had to take some time.
“From the other end, the batsmen were striking pretty well. I know the more time I spend on the field, the better I get and my vision also gets better.” Even MI skipper Hardik Pandya agreed that Iyer took the game away from them.
“The way Shreyas batted, took his chances and some of the shots he played were really outstanding and I think they definitely batted really well.” Pandya did admit that execution on part of MI bowlers was off the mark.
“I think it was par, but it needed some great execution as a bowling unit which I think in these big games it really matters and as I mentioned they were really calm, put us under pressure and I think we were not able to execute the way we wanted.
“I will not put it on the wicket, if we had to something better it was maybe someone bowling right lengths or maybe right bowler at the right point, the result could have been a bit different.” It was one such day when Jasprit Bumrah didn’t click, going for 40 runs in his four overs.
“Boom knowing the situation if even 18 balls are left, Jassi can be Jassi. And he can do something special and it just didn’t happen today,” said Hardik. PTI KHS KHS UNG
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.