GT vs PBKS, IPL 2025: Shreyas Iyer bludgeons 97 runs on Punjab Kings debut, sacrifices century to boost total | Mint

GT vs PBKS, IPL 2025: Leading Punjab Kings for the first match in the Indian Premier League 2025 against Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans, Shreyas Iyer bludgeoned an unbeaten 42-ball 97 runs in Ahmedabad on Tuesday but sacrificed a hundred to boost the total.

In his debut match as skipper for the new franchise, Shreyas Iyer smashed 97 runs, which included as many as nine sixes and five fours at an astounding strike rate of 237.84.

After coming to bat at number 3 for Punjab Kings, Iyer shared a couple of blistering stands with debutant Priyansh Arora and Marcus Stoinis. In his final partnership with Shashank Singh, the pair put an unbeaten stand of 81 runs in a scarcely believable 28 balls.

Iyer shared a 51-run stand-off in just 21 deliveries with debutant Priyansh Arya. Following this Iyer made a 57-run partnership in 28 deliveries with Marcus Stoinis. In the 17th over against Prasidh Krishna, Iyer went 6, 4, 6, 6 between the second and fifth balls.

Though it was expected that Iyer would complete his century, Shashank went berserk and stayed unbeaten on 44 in 16 balls, with Iyer stranded on 97 at the non-striker’s end.

KKR tenure:

In the last season, Iyer was captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and led them to their third IPL title. Despite this, he was not part of the franchise’s list of retentions ahead of the mega-auction last year.

Punjab Kings acquired Iyer for a whopping ₹26.75 crore.

GT vs PBKS, IPL 2025: Scorecard

After winning the toss, Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill decided to bowl first and invited the guests to bat.

Batting first, Punjab Kings have scored 188/5 in 17 overs, where Shreyas Iyer smashed 97 runs in just 42 deliveries at a strike rate of 230.95.

Sai Kishore picked up three wickets, while Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan picked one wicket each for GT.

Chasing 244, GT scored 150/2 in 13 overs, as Sai Sudharsan smashed 74 runs and Shubman Gill scored 33 runs.

GT vs PBKS, IPL 2025: Playing XIs

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer(c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Nehal Wadhera, Praveen Dubey, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod

Gujarat Titans Impact Subs: Sherfane Rutherford, Glenn Phillips, Ishant Sharma, Anuj Rawat, Washington Sundar