IPL 2025: Can Iyer Break His Slump and Extend PBKS' Stellar Away-Form?
Kolkata (West Bengal), India — On Monday, as Punjab Kings (PBKS) faces off against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens during the ongoing IPL season, one significant issue to watch out for will be captain Shreyas Iyer’s recent dip in performance.
On Saturday, PBKS will go up against KKR at Eden Gardens. Currently positioned fifth on the points table, PBKS boasts five victories and three defeats, amassing 10 points. Conversely, KKR finds themselves battling adversity, securing only three triumphs out of eight games played, placing them seventh.
Shreyas Iyer has emerged as the top run-scorer for PBKS, accumulating 263 runs across eight matches with an impressive average of 43.83 and a striking rate of 185.21. His highest score stands at 97*, and he has hit 17 boundaries along with 20 sixes this season while facing 142 deliveries, according to data from ESPNCricinfo.
Underneath these statistics, there is an element of inconsistency. Having begun the tournament with scores of 97* against Gujarat Titans (GT) and 52* versus Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), he managed to surpass the 20-run mark just one time in the subsequent six matches.
Following the match against LSG, Iyer’s scores stand at: 10, 9, 82, 0, 7, 6. In total, this amounts to 114 runs across six innings with an average of 19 and a strike rate exceeding 162.
Iyer has been performing exceptionally well when playing as an away team, posting scores of 97*, 52*, and 82 (in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad) at the Uppal Stadium, along with seven runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinaswamy Stadium. His average stands at 119 when not playing in his home ground, including three half-centuries.
At Mullanpur up until now, he has managed to score 10, 9, 0, and 6 runs, accumulating a total of 25 runs over four innings with an average of 6.25.
Will the game provide Iyer with ample opportunities on the field to keep up his impressive performance in away games? Time will reveal all.
Squads:
Kolkata Knight Riders Team Roster: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wkt), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Chetan Sakariya, Mayank Markande
The Punjab Kings team roster includes Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer as captain, Josh Inglis who acts as wicketkeeper, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, and Pyla Avinash. (ANI)