Massive milestone on watch for PBKS skipper Iyer during Qualifier two IPL clash against MI

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 1 (ANI): Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer would be aiming to become the fifth skipper to complete 50 wins in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as his side takes on five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at Ahmedabad in the Qualifier two.

It would be now or never for Iyer as his in-form PBKS, which topped the league stage with nine wins in 13 completed games, will be aiming to bounce back from a crushing eight-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Qualifier one to book their place in the title clash against RCB at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.

So far in the IPL, Iyer has led Delhi Capitals (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and PBKS in a total of 85 matches, winning 49 of them, including two by tie and losing 34. Two matches ended in a no-result. His win percentage is over 57 per cent.

For DC, Iyer won 23 out of 41 matches and lost 18, with a win percentage of 56.09 per cent. He became the first team to lead them to the final in 2020 and ended up as runners-up to the Mumbai Indians (MI). He also led KKR to their first IPL title in a decade and overall third last year, winning 17 out of 29 matches for them, losing 11, and one ending in a no result. For PBKS so far, he has won nine, lost five, and one match ended in a no result. His win percentage reads 60.

Iyer is the only captain to have led three different IPL teams to at least playoff spots. He is also the only captain to have led two different teams (KKR and PBKS) to top-place finishes in the league stage in a row.

Only four IPL captains have fifty or more wins in IPL history, namely MS Dhoni (136 wins in 235 matches) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPG), Rohit Sharma (87 in 158 matches) for MI, Virat Kohli (66 wins in 143 matches) for RCB and Gautam Gambhir (71 wins in 129 matches) for DC and KKR.

So far in the season, Iyer has fired 516 runs with the bat, scoring at an average of 46.90 and a strike rate of 170.86 with five half-centuries. His best score is 97*.

Will Iyer get that 50th IPL win, which will book PBKS a shot at redemption against RCB?

Squads:

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Kyle Jamieson, Arshdeep Singh, Musheer Naushad Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Xavier Bartlett, Suryansh Shedge, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash

Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Raj Bawa, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Richard Gleeson, Ashwani Kumar, Robin Minz, Raghu Sharma, Krishnan Shrijith, Reece Topley, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Charith Asalanka, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Arjun Tendulkar, Bevon Jacobs, Satyanarayana Raju. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)