IPL 2025, GT vs PBKS: Shreyas Iyer's selfless act sparks comparison with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni; Here's why
Shreyas Iyer's selfless act in IPL 2025, prioritizing team success over his century, sparked comparisons with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.
FollowPunjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer’s selfless act was on display during the IPL 2025 clash against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday, March 25.
Shreyas Iyer played a scintillating knock of 97 off 42 and formed an unbeaten 81-run partnership with Shashank Singh for the sixth wicket to help Punjab Kings post the total of 243/5 in 20 overs on the board. In the final over of Punjab Kings’ batting, Shashank Singh was at the strike and Shreyas needed just three runs to complete his first century for the team. However, PBKS skipper was not bothered about his century as he encouraged Shashank to play attacking cricket rather than thinking about his century.
Shreyas’s words were enough for Shashank to go all out in the final over as he smashed Mohammed Siraj for 23 runs, including five overs, and scored 44 off 16 balls at an impressive strike rate of 275. After the Punjab Kings innings, Shashank Singh revealed that Shreyas Iyer asked him not to think about his century.
"He only came and told me, 'Shashank, don't worry about my 100.' Obviously, I was going to say to him, 'should I give you a single or something?'” the 33-year-old told Star Sports.
Why Shreyas Iyer’s selfless act sparked comparison with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni?
Shreyas Iyer’s sacrificing his century and encouraging Shashank Singh to go all out in the final over became a talking point of the match. Punjab Kings skipper received a massive praise from the fans and experts alike for putting the team above his individual milestone. This resulted in comparing him with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.
A couple of clips went viral on social media, where Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were seen putting their individual milestones above their respective teams, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings. In the 2019 IPL match between RCB and KKR, Virat Kohli was at non-striker’s end and batting on 96. Marcus Stoinis hit the ball towards deep mid-cover off Harry Gurney and he attempted for two but was sent back by Kohli, who managed only a single. Stoinis had an awry smile on his face as he knew that the RCB star batter wanted to complete his century.
WATCH: Virat Kohli’s deny for 2nd run to complete century
Another clip of MS Dhoni went viral on social media, wherein CSK stalwart was batting on 49 against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). Trent Boult’s bouncer delivery to Dhoni led to a misjudged single. Ambati Rayudu reached the striker’s end but Dhoni remained there and the former had to run back to non-striker’s end, but he was run out by Boult before he reached the crease.
WATCH: MS Dhoni-Ambati Rayudu runout incident
These two instances of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni prioritizing their individual milestones over risky runs for the sake of their teams have sparked debates on social media, with many contrasting them against Shreyas Iyer’s selfless act in the IPL 2025 match between Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans.
Shreyas Iyer’s decision to sacrifice his century and allowing Shashank Singh to attack in the final received massive praise from fans and analysts for putting the team's success above personal achievements.
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