Shreyas Iyer reveals learnings from first loss of season and how they plan to bounce back: 'The way they came up...'

Shreyas Iyer admitted that execution with the ball cost Punjab Kings dearly as they suffered their first defeat of the season against Rajasthan Royals in a high-scoring thriller in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.

Punjab Kings posted a strong total of 222/4, thanks to contributions across the top order, including a late blitz from Marcus Stoinis. However, Rajasthan Royals chased it down comfortably, winning by six wickets with four balls to spare.

Speaking after the match, Iyer said the team had a clear bowling plan but failed to execute it properly. Iyer added that the plan was to use slower deliveries, pace variations, and yorkers, but the bowlers could not deliver consistently.

"I thought the 224 on the board was a brilliant score. Kudos to the batsmen, the way they came up and they went against the bowlers. I think it was an exceptional performance, especially on this wicket, which was a bit tacky and slow. And I think we fell a bit short in our bowling, in terms of execution. We had planned to bowl a lot of slower ones, pace off, yorkers. I think we fell a bit short over there," he said.

More from Firstcricket

Iyer on learnings from the loss

Despite the defeat, Iyer remained positive and said the team would learn from the setback. He stressed the importance of sticking to the team’s processes and routines moving forward to get back on winning ways.

"I think it's important that we stick to the things that we've been doing, the routines and the processes that we've been following throughout. We had a match, we had to travel and then come and play another game. So I think the body was also a bit fatigued, but that can't be the reason over here," Iyer said.

"Well, absolutely. I feel that this is the first loss of the season, so it definitely teaches you a lot. And also, we've played a lot of games where we have chased 200 plus, we have defended 200 plus. So this is just one of those games where things didn't go our way and we just have to push it aside. And I feel that in retrospect, many things could have happened, but I just want to stay positive going ahead and be optimistic in our approach," he added.

Parag lauds team effort

On the other hand, RR captain Riyan Parag praised his team’s overall effort. He also said that the team was focused on maintaining momentum during the chase and trusted their players despite outside criticism.

"The concerns were from everyone watching, we have trust in players, all the worries are from outside and not from us. The plan was to keep wickets in hand but not fall too far behind the run-rate, the tough part was keeping the momentum, we got behind a little bit but picked it up again," he said.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again played a superb knock at the top alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, which set the tone for the big chase. Despite the loss, PBKS remain at the top of the IPL 2026 points table with 12 points, while RR have climbed to third spot.