Shreyas Iyer: All rise for the 'Sarpanch' of Punjab Kings

TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: In the past few weeks, a podcast featuring Punjab Kings' (PBKS) Shreyas Iyer has gone viral, where he is humorously promised titles, a house, an entire colony, and even a Canadian bride if he wins the IPL trophy for Punjab Kings.In the podcast, "The Boundary Boys," the host says: "Veer ji Punjab nu IPL jitata na saari zindagi li sarpanch sadda pakka...Mohali vich Iyer naam di colony assi kat ke devange. Shreyas Iyer diyaan sadkein bana denge. 100 kille road te enu zameen de diyange, daah kille vich Kothi pa devange hor teh hod Canada de kudi de naal rishta karwa deveange.(If he wins the IPL for Punjab Kings, he will be our chief for the rest of his life.

We will build a new colony in his name. We will build roads under his name. We will give him 100 acre land near the road. We will give him 10 acres to build his mansion. On top of it, we will get him married to a Canadian girl)."Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!This sums up the mood of the PBKS fanbase.On the day of Qualifier 1, a PBKS fan outside the New PCA Stadium told TimesofIndia.com: "MLA banwa devange" (We'll make him an MLA).

Around an hour past midnight on Monday, Shreyas Iyer furthered PBKS' foundation towards maiden IPL title. He not only finished the game, hitting four sixes in the 19th over against Ashwani Kumar of Mumbai Indians (MI) to help PBKS chase down an uphill 204-run target, with an over to spare, but he also took them one stage closer to their first IPL title.Punjab’s captain fantastic didn’t even celebrate once he hit the winning six.

It was cold at every level. He just hugged his partner Marcus Stoinis, removed his helmet, put his gloves in it, and shook hands with MI players. The only time he showed a bit of emotion was while hugging PBKS coach Ricky Ponting. The duo have forged an unforgettable partnership and built a team from scratch. And now they are in the final.He has not only been ice cold on the field but even in his interviews, one can feel his calmness.

After being on the losing side of a one-sided match against RCB, he had said: "We have lost the battle, not the war."

After beating MI, he said: "I love such big occasions. I always say to myself and also to my colleagues in the team that the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are, you get the big results."If one can take a cue from Shreyas' two post-match interviews, the key takeaway is that the job is just half done for him, and he is gunning for the silverware.The Special One

On Sunday-turned-Monday, Shreyas became the first IPL captain to take three different teams to the IPL finals.But this time, it was more special. It was against all odds. A year after guiding Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third title, the franchise decided not to retain their captain. Ponting and Punjab trusted him, and the duo — who guided Delhi Capitals to their first final in 2020 — have unwound their magic spell once again for the perennial wooden spooners.What makes Shreyas Iyer’s leadership even more remarkable is that he has built the team’s core around six uncapped Indian players — Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, and Harpreet Brar.

The opening duo of Priyansh and Prabhsimran have formed one of the most explosive partnerships in this year’s IPL, consistently providing blistering starts. In the middle order, Nehal Wadhera has emerged as a dependable anchor — notably forging an 84-run stand off just 47 balls with Iyer for the fourth wicket against MI.

Shashank Singh has developed a reputation as a finisher, delivering crucial cameos in tight chases.On the bowling front, Vijaykumar Vyshak has been a reliable force, especially in challenging conditions — as he demonstrated with his knuckle balls on a rainy evening in Ahmedabad, dismissing Jonny Bairstow with one such delivery. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar has quietly delivered match-winning performances, picking up 10 wickets in eight matches, including a Player of the Match effort against Rajasthan Royals in the league stage.The cool guy

PBKS batter Shashank Singh, in an interview with TimesofIndia.com, opened up about various facets of captain Shreyas Iyer and why he is so successful."He is a captain who always gives freedom to his players. He is someone who treats everyone — and when I say everyone, I mean everyone in the team, the 100-120 staff members we have — he treats them equally," said Shashank."He spends time with everyone. He is someone who is extremely positive.

He will always back you. If you tell him, ‘I want to go first and hit everyone,’ he will say, ‘Go and hit — and hit in the next match also, hit after that too.’ He is someone who will give you that extra freedom as well."As a captain, he is someone who backs his instinct — that is his best trait. He will listen to everyone, because I’ve seen a few captains who just say no to everything. He is someone who will say, ‘Give me your ideas, and I will surely listen to them.

Obviously, if I like it, I’ll go ahead with it.’

"He makes sure that the players should speak, rather than him or the support staff. So, that is the best part — he listens. He is a very good listener.""I mean, he has his own swag, he has his own aura, and the way he handles everyone. I mean, people from the outside think he is arrogant, but he is just the cool guy," he added.The shot of the tournament

Only time will tell whether Shreyas will be able to do the unthinkable on June 3, but against MI, he did something beyond everyone’s wildest imagination.

He played one of the shots of the tournament — and no, it wasn’t a six, but a four.On the second ball of Bumrah’s last over, Iyer carved out a boundary from a pinpoint yorker, which even left someone like AB de Villiers, who has hit some of the most astounding shots the world has seen, gasping for breath.

"Shot of the IPL for me. It is hitting the middle stump. It is the perfect yorker & you can’t get it away. That is breaking the bottom of the bat, that is breaking my stumps as well if I am facing that, and Shreyas put it away for four," De Villiers said on JioHotstar after the match.In the 18th season of the IPL, Iyer was PBKS' 17th captain. The frequent change in captaincy tells you a lot about the kind of franchise Punjab is. And now, after all these years, they’ve finally found a 'Sarpanch' — someone their fans adore. If he manages to lift the trophy on Tuesday, his name will be etched in the folklores of Punjab and PBKS fans forever.