Ravi Shastri takes subtle dig at Virat Kohli after Shreyas Iyer sacrifices IPL century, doesn't farm strike, remains 97*
In the innings break, former India head coach Ravi Shastri asked Shashank about his feelings after knowing his captain, Shreyas Iyer, was left stranded on 97.
This is Shreyas Iyer's 10th IPL season and he has never got a century. In his first match of IPL 2025, which was also his debut as the Punjab Kings captain after being bought for a whopping ₹26.75 crore in the mega auction last year, he was on 90 off 38 balls at the of the 17th over against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The wait for his maiden IPL century after playing 117 matches was about to get over. But it didn't. In the next three overs, Shreyas, who was striking at 230, got to play only four balls. He remained unbeaten on 97. But neither did it hurt him nor PBKS because the batter, Shashank Singh, who played most of the last three overs, scored at a strike rate of 275.
Shreyas, who has played age-group with Shashank, knew very well about the latter's hitting prowess. The PBKS captain clearly told him not to worry about his century and go all out in search of boundaries. Shreyas' comments came after he had hit three sixes in the 17th over of the match. But his decision not to ask for the strike proved to be the right one as Shashank hit six fours - five of them in the last over, bowled by Mohammed Siraj - and two sixes to finish unbeaten on 44 off 16 balls.
In the innings break, former India head coach Ravi Shastri asked Shashank about his feelings after knowing his captain Shreyas was left stranded on 97.
“Let me be very honest, Shreyas from ball one told me, ‘Shashank, don’t think of my hundred. Just play your shots and finish it well’. So, kudos to him, the way he spoke to me before the over," he said.
Shreyas' selfless act added valuable runs to PBKS total as they ended up with 243/5 which proved to be 11 runs too many for GT.
Shastri reminds everyone of team games Shreyas Iyer stranded on 97* in indirect dig at Kohli
Hearing Shashank's answer, Shasri took a subtle dig at players giving more value to individual milestones than looking at the team's needs. Praising, Shreyas for his attitude, Shastri said: “That’s the right thing to say in a team game.”
Shastri did not take any names but was he trying to talk about Virat Kohli's attempts at getting to a personal milestone? As soon as Shashank revealed Shreyas' intentions of not thinking about his century, videos of Kohli refusing to come back for a double to keep strike to complete his century against KKR in an IPL went viral.
With two balls remaining in that RCB vs KKR match in IPL 2019, Kohli was on 96 when he asked Marcus Stoinis to wait at the non-striker's end in what appeared to be an easy couple. Stoinis had a wry smile on his face as he knew Kohli wanted his century. He got there with a boundary off the next ball.
Notably, Kohli was criticised for prioritising his century even during the 2023 ODI World Cup match against Bangladesh.
Shreyas, for his part, was extremely pleased that he could contribute to the team's winning start in the 18th season of IPL. "Getting 97 not out in the season's opening game for us is the icing on the cake. I got a four on the first ball I faced, and it got me going. That flick six off Rabada as well. 44 runs he (Shashank) scored off 16-17 balls was pretty crucial for the team. We set a benchmark that we had to go for it," he said.
