Shreyash Iyer could not get going against RR on Tuesday with his 27-ball 30 pushing the scoring rate down for PBKS who faced their first defeat of the season even he has been in tremendous form in IPL 2026. Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer who is in-form had a poor day with the bat on Tuesday as his team suffered its first loss of Indian Premier League 2026 with Rajasthan Royals (RR) chasing down 223 to secure two points in the critical encounter.
The second-highest run-getter of Punjab Kings (PBKS), Shreyas Iyer, looked out of touch against the Royals and could only muster a laboured 27-ball 30 with a four and only one six. Marcus Stoinis scored a stunning 62 not out off just 22 balls to power the Punjab Kings to 222-4 but in the last it did not prove to be enough.
For PBKS, big-hitters like Marco Jansen and Nehal Wadhera not even getting a chance to bat, Shreyash Iyer is facing flak for his slow approach.
Should Shreyash Iyer have retired himself out?
Earlier IPL 2026 season, youngster of Chennai Super Kings Ayush Mhatre was retired out by the franchise paving way for an explosive Shivam Dube to come out to bat late in the innings. Could Shreyash Iyer have done a same thing to fully utilize the batting depth of PBKS?
Former Mumbai Indians coach and South Africa legend Shaun Pollock faiths that there were not too many in-form batters left in the dugout for Shreyash Iyer to retire himself out.
Pollock said Cricbuzz “It depends on who you got to come. So, if Stoinis had played two knocks like he played today, and he is still to come, you could consider. But I don’t think there was anyone down the order who you would think would have been in better form,”
“We had an example in our SA20. We promoted Roston chase but we had Rutherford who had been in unbelievable form and was striking at over 200. Roston had a bit of a period (of slow batting). We pulled him with two overs to go. Also, we wanted a left-hander at the crease,”
“So, when you have got someone, then strategically if you are feeling as a captain, yeah, I am not hitting it today and you want to make a change,” he told.
Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle told on Cricbuzz “If you are a player in form, you are always backing yourself. So he is telling himself yeah I know but I’ll probably hit three sixes from here,”
Pollock said “It is a brave call, but it is definitely happening more and more,”
Despite the loss to the Royals, Iyer’s team remains on the top of the table.
