Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer slammed a century against Karnataka in their Vijay Hazare Trophy match on Saturday. Iyer, who was roped by Punjab Kings for Rs 26.75 crore at the IPL meag auction, slammed an unbeaten 114 runs off 55 balls, cracking 10 sixes and five fours. Iyer’s knock propelled Mumbai to a massive 382/4 in 50 overs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The 30-year-old has been in brilliant form in this domestic season, and recently led Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title.
Iyer came out to bat following the dismissal of Ayush Mhatre with Mumbai 148/2 in 29.5 overs. Mhatre (78) and Hardik Tamore (84) added 141 runs for the second wicket to give Mumbai a strong foundation.
Iyer put on a show after that. He and Shivam Dube built a huge 148-run stand, putting Mumbai in command. Dube cracked five sixes and as many fours to remain unbeaten on 63 off just 36 balls. India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav could only manage a 16-ball 20.
Iyer is hoping to get back into the team after beind dropped from the central contract list by the BCCI earlier this year.
The batter recently said that he is “super excited” about being a part of PBKS and is hopeful about delivering results from the very first match.
“Surreal feeling after winning Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. A lot of hard work took place behind the scenes. The boys were tremendous with their performance. Now we are done with this part,” Iyer said in a video uploaded on Punjab Kings’ official social media handles.
“Super excited to be part of Punjab Kings. I cannot wait to join the Punjab Kings family. It’s been a great year for me to win four trophies. My main goal is to win the IPL trophy for Punjab. I can understand what the feelings must be among the fans. With Ricky coming in, we have shared a great camaraderie from the past. We would be putting our thinking caps on and brainstorming on many aspects. Hopefully, we will deliver from the match one,” he added.
(With ANI Inputs)
