Ahmedabad, June 2 (IANS) After registering a historic victory over Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 on Sunday, Punjab Kings (PBKS) have secured their spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 finals. Ahead of the final on Tuesday, captain Shreyas Iyer addressed the press, reflecting on last night’s victory and the game plan for the big match.

Looking back at the Kings’ journey this IPL season, Shreyas discussed the factors that helped the team reach the final stage of the tournament, after a long wait of 11 years. “I think the role of a captain is that you have to get the best out of your players in terms of performance. And when we got a start in this tournament, we gained momentum right from the beginning. After that, every individual kept stepping up,” Iyer said.

Lauding the youngsters, he added, “We have so many youngsters in our team; they’ve been dictating terms from ball one, and they’ve done it throughout the season. This is the reason we’ve reached the final.”

While the Kings lost early wickets in last night’s clash, the skipper stepped up and played a captain’s knock of an unbeaten 87 runs off just 41 balls.

Reflecting on his innings and mindset during play, the captain said, “I personally feel that I love to play the situation as much as possible and not get too far ahead of the game. If I’m chasing, I look at the required run rate and how the wicket is playing, and which bowlers are going to come. Based on that, I plan my tactics, and I also make sure I take the game to the end. So all these plans have to be precise and have to work on the given day.”

However, while celebrations were going on in the Kings’ camp, the captain remained calm and didn’t celebrate much.

Speaking about his reaction, he said, “I felt like my job was half done. It’s not even finished. We have a match tomorrow. I approached it with that mindset. The job is half done, and I have to come back tomorrow. I have to play the match again. I was thinking that recovery is important.”

The 30-year-old also discussed the lessons the team learned from the loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the first qualifier and emphasised the need to adapt to different situations and how one cannot follow a straight plan all the time.

The situation can be anything, and we will play according to the situation. It’s not like we go from one plan to another. I don’t think about going up or down. Like I said, a lot of players have gained experience. The youngsters are fearless in nature. They have gained experience and they know how to adapt. We can’t go with a straight plan,” he stated.

While concluding, he reiterated his determination to make the team win at any cost and said, “When you are on the field, it is all about rivalry. It is not about comfort at all. When you step onto the field, you are at war, and you fight to win. So, I will put in everything and I will give in everything to see to it that my team wins.”

Punjab Kings will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2025 final on Tuesday at Narendra Modi International Stadium, Ahmedabad.

–IANS

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