Iyer: 'We're finding it difficult to assess the wicket batting first'

Shreyas Iyer thinks Punjab Kings (PBKS) are suffering from a middle-order muddle in IPL 2025, especially at home in New Chandigarh - where they have played their final game of the season - with surfaces having thrown up a number of questions at their batters.

On Sunday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), PBKS scored 157 for 6 in their 20 overs; the last five overs produced just 38 as Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar put on a superb exhibition of death bowling. Even a feared finisher like Shashank Singh couldn't quite find his hitting gears - he didn't hit a single boundary in the last five overs.

Their innings wasn't as much of a struggle like it was in their previous game at the venue, where they successfully defended 110 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but it wasn't one they would look back on fondly either.

"If you see, a majority of our batters like to go [for it] from ball one," Shreyas said after PBKS went down by seven wickets to RCB. "We're finding it difficult to assess the wicket if we're batting first. That has been the scenario from match one.

"Otherwise, we've not been able to capitalise on the starts we've been getting. It's just that the wickets have been getting slower and slower, [this] being an afternoon game, we weren't able to set a total we could defend. Even in the middle phase when we thought we could take on the bowlers, we couldn't capitalise."

PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting's thoughts were along the same lines.

"We didn't bat well enough. That's the bottomline in this game. I think the wicket was a whole lot better than 157, where a lot of batsmen made starts [but didn't] go on to make those big scores," he said at the press conference after the game. "That's crucial in T20 cricket, especially the guys at the top of the order. And that's the difference.

"Virat [Kohli] bats through tonight, sees his team home, and we weren't good enough to capitalise on a good start. At the end of the powerplay we were 1 for 62 - pretty much where you want the game to be. Straightaway you're looking at a score of 180-plus, even pushing on to 200 if the middle order bats well. But we lost wickets in clumps again tonight, which is not the first time in the tournament.

"I thought their spinners bowled well, and their death bowling was exceptional. Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] and [Josh] Hazlewood, the four overs they bowled at the end… At the second time out, we still thought we'd get to near 180. But their death bowling was too good and we struggled to 157. Unlike the last game here, where we dragged a win out of nowhere, we weren't good enough to do that tonight."

Shreyas counted that "great start" with the bat as one of their positives. Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh put on 42 in just 4.2 overs. But their dismissals as they looked to pick boundaries led to that problem in the middle overs, where they kept losing wickets on the face of some excellent bowling from Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya.

Since his century against CSK, Arya has laid down the marker in each of the four innings - 22, 16, 22, 36 - but hasn't been able to kick on. The story is similar for Prabhsimran, who has scores of 33, 13, 30 and 42.

When asked if the openers should tone down their approach, Shreyas cautioned against anyone curbing their instincts, stressing the need for some of the middle-order batters to take the "bull by the horns."

"We keep talking about adapting to the wicket, but once the ball tends to get old it doesn't skid off the wicket that well," Shreyas said. "Both of them are great stroke players, it's difficult to stop their instincts. Once you say they've got to play according to situation, it kind of becomes hard for them to comprehend as well.

"If you see other games, they've been giving us absolutely brilliant starts. A few of the middle-order batters, we need to step up and take bull by the horns."

Shreyas has found himself in an unusual trend of either going all-in or being dismissed early. He has been out for single-digit scores in his last three outings, two of those against RCB. On Friday, he was out looking to slash Hazlewood after being cramped for room. On Sunday, Shreyas was caught looking to clear the long-on boundary.

"I'm in a great mind space," he said. "I just need to cross ten runs and after that I can take on the charge. I don't want to give reasons that I played in a particulate way. I need to be freeflowing as well and not think about what we've been doing in the past. Just stay in the present as much as possible and capitalise on the starts we've been getting."

PBKS have a six-day break after two days of frenetic travel as they played RCB back-to-back. And the time off - before they play KKR at Eden Gardens - couldn't have come at a better time for the team.

"It's important that we go back to the drawing board, more importantly rejuvenate and refresh, because we've been constantly travelling since the last couple of days," Iyer said. "It's important to assess our body as well and see to it we're in the best shape possible before the next game."

That game is against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens on Saturday evening.

"We've got a nice, little break, about a six-day break now," Ponting said. "On the back of three games in about five days, the boys need a bit of a freshen-up, time to get away, forget about this result, and make sure we focus on our next challenge, which is KKR down there [in Kolkata], which we know will be a big game for us."