Ashwin rejects Shreyas Iyer narrative, picks PBKS' 'game-changers': 'Will see this runaway superstar in Team India soon'
World cricket has gone ga-ga over Shreyas Iyer after his heroic knock of an unbeaten 87 against the Mumbai Indians on Sunday in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. His efforts saw Punjab Kings prevail in the 204-run chase with an over to spare as they reached their first IPL final in 11 years and now stand a win away from claiming their maiden title. However, former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin rejected the narrative around Iyer, as he pointed out not one but three players who made a real impact in the chase, but never got enough credit.
Speaking on his YouTube show 'Ash ki Baat', Ashwin admitted that while Iyer was instrumental in the run chase, getting boundaries when needed, but claimed that his "popularity" denied Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis and Priyansh Arya of also getting the credit for the win.
Ashwin was in absolute awe of Inglis' 20-run over against Jasprit Bumrah, which denied the India star a wicket in the powerplay and dented Mumbai's early plans to defend 203 in the rain-interrupted match.
"I definitely appreciate Shreyas for a couple of shots - that six over extra cover against Ashwini Kumar off a free hit. Whenever they needed a boundary, he got it. But the game-changing batter was Josh Inglis, along with Nehal Wadhera. Iyer is popular, so the credit that needs to go to Inglis and Wadhera might not end up going. But he played a 20-run over against Bumrah in the powerplay. They got Bumrah to stop the run-scoring and get a wicket. But not only did he not get a wicket, he was also hit for 20 runs. How did he do it? Inglis scored a six against the slower ball on the leg side, then waited to hit one over third man. The moment that the slower one went for a six, Bumrah did not have any option. He had to go hard length into the pitch. That one particular over changed the tide of the game," he said.
The Aussie scored a 21-ball 38, followed by a fiery 48 off 29 from Wadhera, as Punjab remained on course throughout the chase.
Ashwin, however, said that Mumbai were at least 15-20 runs short on the track, which Australia legend Matthew Hayden pointed out in the mid-innings analysis on Star Sports.
"But Mumbai were always 15 runs short. In Ahmedabad, if you can't score 220, it won't be easy. It's going by the Gujarat Titans template, who have always exceeded 220 on a red-soil pitch. Hayden had said the same thing during the mid-innings chat," he added.
The legendary bowler, who retired from international cricket in December last year, did not forget to praise Arya for his cameo knock in the powerplay, where he scored 20 off 10, comprising two boundaries and a six. He said that his fiery start gave Punjab the much-needed momentum before Iyer and the rest of the line-up capitalised on it. In conclusion, he reckoned Arya could soon break into the Indian team after his heroics in IPL 2025.
"There is also a runaway superstar in the Punjab team, and we might see a lot of him in Indian cricket—Priyansh Arya. If you noticed today, he got out in the powerplay, but scored 20 off 10 balls. MI got two wickets in the powerplay, but his knock gave Punjab the momentum and gave Iyer the luxury to stay on course with Wadhera."
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