Bowling coach Hopes lauds 'sensational' captain Iyer's 'classy knock' as PBKS enter IPL final

Ahmedabad, June 2 (IANS) Punjab Kings bowling coach James Hope praised skipper Shreyas Iyer's calmness during the run chase against Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 and called his 41-ball unbeaten 87 a "classy knock" that helped PBKS reach the IPL final after an 11-year wait.

PBKS beat five-time champions MI by five wickets in Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday. After electing to bowl, the side led by Iyer restricted MI to 203/6. In reply, the captain led from the front, smashing an unbeaten 87 off 41 balls to get his side a solid five-wicket win with an over to spare.

"I think we came into the game wanting to bat second. We knew the wicket we were on was a pretty high-scoring pitch and without giving too much away we were doing a few things with the impact player if we would ended up batting first. So we wanted to bat second and stack our batting and just hold on with our bowling," Hopes said.

"The skipper's knock, I think he was 24 off 20 at one stage and then he just flicked the switch as he's done a couple of times in this tournament. It was a very classy knock," he added.

Hopes further praised Iyer for his captaincy and explained that the skipper kept things calm in the dressing room despite his side losing the first qualifier the past week against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

“Shreyas is a sensational captain and a sensational player. I think the big thing with that is like the game up in Chandigarh, which Punjab lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Qualifier, don’t try to find a reason for it. Don’t look at, oh well, why did this happen? Why did that happen? No no, it just happened,” Hopes said.

Hopes also praised the entire batting unit, highlighting the contribution from Josh Inglis (38 off 21) and Nehal Wadhera (48 off 29), and also credited his side for neutralising the threat posed by MI speedster Jasprit Bumrah.

"Wadhera batted beautifully. The way Inglis attacked Bumrah up front to get him off his game a little bit was commendable. If you had told us we were chasing 200 at the start of the day and we were going to take 40 off Bumrah, we would have taken that every day of the week and liked our chances," Hopes said.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Iyer explained his mindset going into big matches and said that he enjoys batting on big occasions. "I don't know to be honest, I love such big occasions. I always say to myself and also to my colleagues in the team that the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are, you get the bigger the results... I was focusing more on my breathing rather than sweating out loud over there," he said.

Punjab Kings will now go head-to-head against RCB in the final and Iyer said that his side will be ready with a great mindset for the upcoming battle. "I am just staying in the moment right now, I want to cherish this moment, go out to the dressing room and celebrate with my team that we have reached the final."

"But I personally feel that the job is half done, so not going to think about the final that much. Just be in the moment, rejuvenate, relax, get a massage before tomorrow's game and be in a great mindset," he signed off.

--IANS

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