The enduring visual from the Wankhede on @L0$ might well be Shreyas Iyer leaping full-stretch at long-on, parrying the ball mid-air in a relay catch to dismiss Hardik Pandya; a moment of athletic brilliance that won't find a mention in the scorecard. But, as it turned out, it was not to be his most defining contribution to the night. That arrived later, with the bat, in a setting that has increasingly become his domain - the chase. And in guiding Punjab Kings home yet again, Shreyas only reinforced a pattern that has been building quietly but emphatically over the past two seasons.
Since the start of IPL 2024, Shreyas's numbers in run-chases read like an outlier dataset. Across 16 such innings, he has amassed 632 runs at an average of 90.28 and a strike rate of 173.15 - a stark contrast to his first innings returns in the same period (526 runs at 30.94, SR 160.86). More tellingly, his teams have won 14 of those 16 games, underlining the direct correlation between his presence deep into a chase and the result. Nine of those 16 innings have seen him remain unbeaten, effectively sealing the game. And when he has failed early, dismissed for 10 or fewer on three occasions, his side has lost twice. Among the batters who have been part of at least 10 chases in this period, Shreyas's win % of 87.5% is bettered only by Phil Salt's 90.9% (10 wins in 11 chases).
The degree of difficulty hasn't been modest either. Nine of those chases involved targets in excess of 180. Shreyas ended up on the winning side seven times in those games, a return bettered only by his Punjab teammate Prabhsimran Singh (eight wins in 14 games), while Yashasvi Jaiswal also has been part of seven wins, which came across 18 attempts. In these high-scoring pursuits, he has aggregated 420 runs at an average of 84 and a strike rate nudging 186, underscoring both volume and velocity under pressure.
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Mumbai Indians, traditionally among the more reliable sides when it comes to defending 180-plus totals, have now been breached thrice in succession by Punjab Kings in such scenarios - a first in the IPL. Shreyas has been central to that sequence, including his unbeaten 87 in Qualifier 2 last season that set up the first successful 200-plus chase against them.
At the Wankhede, the script followed a familiar arc. Punjab lost wickets in the Powerplay, forcing Shreyas into early action. His start was measured - 14 off his first 10 balls - even as Prabhsimran provided initial impetus at the other end. But the acceleration, when it came, was decisive. Shreyas struck 52 off his next 25 deliveries, including a calculated assault on Jasprit Bumrah, taking 23 off 10 balls. By the time he fell in the 16th over, the chase was all but sealed.
This sequencing mirrors a broader trend in his approach. In chases since 2024, Shreyas scores at 132.85 in his first 10 balls before shifting dramatically to 198.22 thereafter. Among batters with a reasonable sample size, that late acceleration is among the best in the league, and crucially, it comes with a significantly larger body of work.
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Punjab Kings, for their part, have chased in all five games this season and remain unbeaten. While the road ahead may present sterner examinations, when it comes to pacing a chase, few in the current IPL landscape appear as assured as PBKS and they have Shreyas to thanks for it big time.
