Shreyas Iyer mounts India T20I claim with stunning century in must-wi…

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) were staring at another collapse. They had six straight defeats that had pushed them to the edge and their playoff hopes were slipping away. At 22 for 2 in a must-win chase against Lucknow Super Giants, the pressure inside the dressing room would have been enormous. palladian.co.za

That was when Shreyas Iyer finally produced the innings Punjab had been waiting for all season.

The PBKS captain smashed an unbeaten 101 off 51 balls, his maiden IPL century, to guide Punjab to a seven-wicket win in Lucknow and keep their season alive. The timing of Iyer’s first IPL century couldn’t have been better.

For the last few weeks, Iyer had looked short of rhythm. The runs were not flowing as freely as he had only one 20+ score in his previous five outings. But on Saturday night, with Punjab needing somebody to take responsibility, he delivered.

This feeling pic.twitter.com/QumEoYHQC9

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) May 23, 2026

Iyer’s class during chaos

Punjab’s chase could easily have gone downhill after the early wickets. But Iyer never looked rushed. He settled quickly and built the innings smartly alongside Prabhsimran Singh, who continued his excellent season with a rapid 69.

The partnership changed the game after both Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly went early. While Prabhsimran attacked the shorter boundaries square of the wicket, Iyer found gaps and keeping the chase under control. His batting against pace was particularly impressive. He stayed deep inside the crease, giving himself extra time to cut and punch deliveries behind point. Against spin too, he looked confident, using his feet well and rotating strike.

Shami over changes everything

At one stage, Punjab still needed 47 from the last five overs. Yes, PBKS were ahead but their losing streak meant that Punjab were never comfortable. Then Iyer decided to finish it himself.

Mohammed Shami came back into the attack and Iyer took him apart immediately. Three sixes in the over completely swung the chase Punjab’s way. The release shots were clean. One over effectively ended Lucknow’s chances.

From then, equation became such that the focus fell on Iyer’s hundred.

Punjab needed six runs to win. Iyer needed six for the milestone as well. Mohsin Khan tried the slower ball outside off stump, but Iyer quickly adjusted, went deep in the crease and launched it over cow corner for six.

Match won. Century completed. Same ball. He removed his helmet, raised both arms and smiled towards the dressing room.

A statement knock from the PBKS captain

The innings was another reminder of how valuable Iyer can be in T20 cricket when he finds rhythm early. He finished with 11 fours and five sixes, but more importantly, he controlled the chase from start to finish after Punjab’s shaky beginning.

Ricky Ponting later praised his captain and the faith Punjab had shown in him at the auction. And honestly, this was exactly the kind of innings Punjab expected when they built the team around him.

Iyer has now registered six fifty-plus scores this season, matching his best IPL tally. Among PBKS batters, only KL Rahul has recorded more in a single season.

Player	Balls taken
4595	Suryakumar Yadav
5025	Suresh Raina
5075	Shreyas Iyer

Pressure building on Suryakumar Yadav?

Iyer’s return to form has come at an interesting time for India’s T20 setup.

With India preparing for the next T20 cycle, selectors are expected to look closely at players who can offer runs in the middle order along with leadership qualities. Right now, Iyer is ticking both boxes.

He has already enhanced his captaincy reputation after leading Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title in 2024, and now he has dragged Punjab back into playoff contention after a terrible losing streak threatened to derail their campaign completely.

At the same time, Suryakumar Yadav’s struggles continue to attract attention. The India T20I captain has endured a prolonged lean phase with both form and fitness becoming concerns. His returns in IPL 2026 have been disappointing and questions around his place are naturally growing louder.

That is where Iyer becomes significant.

He looks fitter, more composed and technically sharper than before. The short-ball weakness that opponents once targeted regularly no longer appears as obvious. Instead, he is handling pace with far more confidence and control.

Suryakumar Yadav’s T20I record

Period	Innings	Runs	Highest Score	Average	Strike Rate	100s/50s
Until June 2024	65	2340	117	43.33	167.74	4/19
Since July 2024 (took over as captain)	42	932	84*	25.88	152.03	0/6
Since 2025	33	702	84*	26.00	147.16	0/4
In T20 World Cup 2026	9	242	84*	30.25	136.72	0/1

The post Shreyas Iyer mounts India T20I claim with stunning century in must-win PBKS vs LSG appeared first on Inside Sport India.

Time always seems to fly. As yours truly pens down those words, we are already into the fifth month of 2026. Once again it feels as if the clock chugs along akin to a non-stop train. But even if the 1990s decade has turned into 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, certain things seem to remain the same. One of them has to be Shreyas Iyer’s deep reservoirs of mental strength. And that was on full display when Punjab Kings took on Lucknow Super Giants in a must-win IPL game in Lucknow.

At 22 for 2, in a chase of 197, PBKS desperately needed a partnership of substance. Shreyas and Prabhsimran Singh didn’t just prop up the innings but also shared a game-breaking alliance as PBKS registered a win of significance. It was a significant victory as PBKS had lost six in a row after a bright start. And if PBKS had lost the aforesaid game, they would have bowed out of the tournament.

Moreover, it was an important innings from Iyer’s point of view too. He had been dismissed in a similar fashion over a couple of games, and doubts were raised over his method against the new ball. On the given day, he essayed four boundaries over two overs while facing Mohsin Khan and Mohammed Shami in the Powerplay overs to showcase that he is in good nick.

Perhaps he also made a small tweak to his batting manual. In some of his previous matches, Shreyas’ back foot was positioned outside the leg-stump or leg lined. In the LSG-PBKS encounter, it was more around the middle-stump, helping his front foot move towards the pitch of the ball and negate any kind of movement upfront.

Shreyas also targeted the right kind of bowlers as he took a toll off an out-of-form Digvesh Rathi. By the time Prabhsimran was dislodged, PBKS were in cruise mode.

The PBKS’ captain’s maiden IPL hundred also transported this correspondent back to an era when Shreyas was just another of those budding cricketers. Even then he had the resilience to soak up the pressure. In only his third Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai, he was up against a fine Uttar Pradesh attack comprising Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra (seam bowler), Ankit Rajpoot and Piyush Chawla.

At a particular juncture of the innings, Mumbai were in dire straits at 57 for 6. Shreyas, batting at No. 7, however, accrued a splendid 75 and Mumbai won the match by eight wickets. During that season, Mumbai were also grappling with the No. 3 slot. Shreyas took up the gauntlet of batting at that position and composed a 153 versus Bengal.

With Shreyas, it is never about how he scores his runs. It is about when he scores those runs. It was a hallmark of his batting during his debut Ranji season. And in present times that trait of his helped PBKS to survive in the competition for at least one more day.

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The post IPL 2026 – Shreyas Iyer and the art of scoring runs under pressure appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.

Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan, 40, and Sophie, 35, are busy enjoying a getaway to Bali, Indonesia

The left-hander who played 34 Tests, 167 ODIs, and 68 T20Is for India posted a series of pictures of the couple unwinding amidst picturesque backdrops at the island destination.

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A post shared by Shikhar Dhawan (@shikhardofficial)

He captioned the post: “Shaam bhi khoobsurat thi, saath bhi [the evening was beautiful, as was the company].” The post received nearly three lakh ‘likes.’

The couple tied the knot earlier this year in February.

Mumbai Indians (MI) began their IPL-19 campaign on a winning note, outclassing Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets at Wankhede on March 29. However, since then the five-time champions have witnessed a massive dip in performance and are out of the Playoffs race well before Sunday’s final league match on their home ground vs Rajasthan Royals (RR).

MI’s head coach Mahela Jayawardene, however, remains optimistic that his team will play for pride and their fans when they face RR at the Wankhede.

ESA kids in attendance

“It [performance] was not good enough. The consistency and execution in certain phases of the game were not there. We struggled and that has been the story for us. The last game [vs RR] is an important home game. We’ve got the ESA [Education and Sports for All initiative] as well.

Mahela Jayawardene. Pic/IPL

All the kids will be here supporting us, so there’s a lot to play for, not just pride,” Jayawardene said during the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

The star-studded MI squad comprises India’s T20 World Cup winners — MI skipper Hardik Pandya (172 runs and four wickets), Suryakumar Yadav (210 runs), Tilak Varma (356 runs), and pacer Jasprit Bumrah (four wickets) — but all have struggled for form. Jayawardene insists that playing for the country and for an IPL franchise are altogether different tasks.

“It’s not fair just to bring those four guys, but as a group, a lot of the guys haven’t been able to perform consistently. Yes, they came from a very high-level World Cup. But what you have to understand is that how you play for your national team and how you play for the IPL franchise, sometimes it’s different because the personnel are different. The roles can be different, also how you want to go about it. So, they had to switch it up. There’s nothing wrong with the effort they put in off the field in training and conversations we had with them. It’s just that they were not able to go out there and execute in the middle,” Jayawardene, a former Sri Lankan skipper, explained.

RR on 14 points after 13 games

RR, who are on 14 points from 13 games and need a win to enter Playoffs, will hope to replicate last month’s 27-run win over MI in a rain-affected match in Guwahati. RR’s Mumbai boy Yashasvi Jaiswal starred with a match-winning unbeaten 77 off 32 balls, while teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed 39 off 14, including a first-ball six off Bumrah.

It will be interesting to witness the contest between a struggling Bumrah and the in-form opening pair of Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal.

20.17
Rohit Sharma’s average against RR — his lowest against any opponent in IPL

One
No. of games MI have won against RR in their last four meetings at Wankhede

Two
No. of centuries for Yashasvi Jaiswal in IPL — both have come against MI

Rajasthan Royals (RR) assistant coach Trevor Penney reckons his team’s teenaged batting star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, is a ‘rare’ talent he hasn’t seen in 40 years. Today, Sooryavanshi will play his first game at the iconic Wankhede Stadium vs Mumbai Indians (MI), and Penney hopes the attacking RR opener will live up to his reputation against the five-time champions.

“I’m sure he’s [Sooryavanshi] very excited. We don’t have to talk to him much. He’s such a pleasant boy, very confident, and just so excited every day to go out and play and practice. He’s just in his little bubble, practises hard, and when he goes out to play, he just enjoys himself. So, it’s pretty rare [talent]. I’ve been in cricket for 40 years and haven’t seen that before. So, long may that last, and I certainly hope that it works tomorrow [Sunday],” Penney said during the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

Trevor Penney

Sooryavanshi has scored 579 runs in 13 games in IPL-19, including one century and three half-centuries. The strokeful left-hander has smashed 53 sixes and 50 fours in only his second IPL season.

When asked if Sooryavanshi’s fielding and running between the wickets are a concern, given he’s mostly used as an Impact Substitute, Penney said: “He’s a very good fielder. He’s got great hands, moves well, dives, anticipates... he’s got all that. Sometimes, with him opening the batting, him going in fresh in the second innings has worked for us. So, there’s no specific reason like, oh, he’s a bad fielder [and] we’re not playing him in the field. It has nothing to do with that. It’s just circumstances. He’s very good at running between the wickets. But he doesn’t really have to run between the wickets too much, does he? It’s just about a break. I think he can if he has to.”