'We've lost the battle, not the war' - Shreyas Iyer weighs in on Qualifier 1 defeat to RCB

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally reached their first Indian Premier League (IPL) final since 2016, handing Punjab Kings (PBKS) a humiliating eight-wicket defeat in Qualifier 1 at New Chandigarh. The home team, after being put on to bat first, were bundled out for just 101.

RCB’s decision to bowl first paid heavy rewards as their bowlers, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal and Suyash Sharma, ran through PBKS’ top and middle order. Punjab saw four wickets lost in the powerplay, and soon the other six saw themselves walking back. PBKS’ total of 101 was the joint-lowest ever in IPL playoff history, equalling Lucknow Super Giants’ total from IPL 2023.

Despite the movement and bounce making batting challenging, RCB’s batter made the chase look simple. Salt smashed an unbeaten 56 off just 27, and with Rajat Patidar finishing it with a slog-sweep six, RCB reached the target with 60 balls to spare, making it the biggest margin in playoff chases in terms of balls remaining. After the crushing defeat, PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer was honest in his post-match assessment. Reflecting on what went wrong, he admitted the batting unit's poor day on the field.

"Not a day to forget, but got to go back to the drawing board. We lost a lot of wickets (in the first innings.) There's a lot to go back and study on. I am not doubting on my decisions to be honest. Whatever we did in terms of planning, outside of the ground whatever (planning) we did, I think it was on point. Just that we couldn't execute it on the field," Iyer said during the post-match interview. 

Meanwhile, Iyer mentioned that defending such a low total was always a tough task, especially against a strong batting unit. He also pointed out that his side needed to be more adaptable, considering the bounce on the pitch.

"Can't even blame the bowlers, as it was a low total to defend. We got to work on our batting especially on this wicket. In all the games we have played here there has been some variable bounce. We can't give such reasons because we are professionals at the end of the day and we have to bat according to the situation and we have to live up to it. We have lost the battle, but not the war," he added.

Hazlewood and Suyash picked three wickets each, with Dayal chipping in with two. With the bat, despite losing Virat Kohli early, Salt took the game away from Punjab. While RCB will play the finals, Punjab have another chance at making it to the summit clash as they take on the winners of the Eliminator game (Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians) on June 1.